Taiwan’s investments in countries under the government’s New Southbound Policy surpassed investments in China in the first half of this year, Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Chen Chern-chyi (陳正祺) said on Tuesday.
Taiwan’s investments in the 18 countries covered by the policy totaled US$2.126 billion in the first six months of this year, compared with US$1.9 billion invested in China, Chen told the Taiwan-ASEAN-India Strategic Investment Partnership Forum in Taipei.
The New Southbound Policy is designed to enhance trade and exchanges between Taiwan and 18 countries: Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Time
The policy echoes an international trend by reducing economic dependence on a single market, Chen said, apparently referring to China.
It reinforces economic ties with ASEAN and many others, he said.
The New Southbound Policy has bolstered Taiwan’s economic resilience, he said.
Last year, Taiwan’s investments in the 18 countries under the policy rose 121.41 percent from a year earlier to US$5.3 billion, Chen said, adding that many Taiwanese electronics companies have built clusters in ASEAN.
Taiwanese tech heavyweights such as iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海), and contract electronics makers Wistron Corp (緯創), Quanta Computer Inc (廣達), Pegatron Corp (和碩), Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶) and Inventec Corp (英業達) have set up production sites in Vietnam, he said.
In Thailand, Taiwanese firms including Apex International Co (泰鼎) and Taiflex Scientific Co (台虹), have built a printed circuit board cluster, while Indonesia has attracted footwear makers Pou Chen Corp (寶成) and Feng Tay Enterprises Co (豐泰), as well as Eclat Textile Co (儒鴻), Chen said.
To meet carbon emissions reduction goals, Taiwanese investors such as Hon Hai and power management solution provider Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) have invested in emerging businesses in Thailand, Indonesia and India, including energy storage solution providers and electric vehicle manufacturers, he said.
PATENTS: MediaTek Inc said it would not comment on ongoing legal cases, but does not expect the legal action by Huawei to affect its business operations Smartphone integrated chips designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) on Friday said that a lawsuit filed by Chinese smartphone brand Huawei Technologies Co (華為) over alleged patent infringements would have little impact on its operations. In an announcement posted on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, MediaTek said that it would not comment on an ongoing legal case. However, the company said that Huawei’s legal action would have little impact on its operations. MediaTek’s statement came after China-based PRIP Research said on Thursday that Huawei filed a lawsuit with a Chinese district court claiming that MediaTek infringed on its patents. The infringement mentioned in the lawsuit likely involved
Taipei is today suspending work, classes and its US$2.4 trillion stock market as Typhoon Gaemi approaches Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain. The nation is not conducting securities, currency or fixed income trading, statements from its stock and currency exchanges said. Authorities had yesterday issued a warning that the storm could affect people on land and canceled some ship crossings and domestic flights. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) expects its local chipmaking fabs to maintain normal production, the company said in an e-mailed statement. The main chipmaker for Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp said it has activated routine typhoon alert
GROWTH: TSMC increased its projected revenue growth for this year to more than 25 percent, citing stronger-than-expected demand for AI devices and smartphones The Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台灣經濟研究院) yesterday raised its forecast for Taiwan’s GDP growth this year from 3.29 percent to 3.85 percent, as exports and private investment recovered faster than it predicted three months ago. The Taipei-based think tank also expects that Taiwan would see a 8.19 percent increase in exports this year, better than the 7.55 percent it projected in April, as US technology giants spent more money on artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and development. “There will be more AI servers going forward, but it remains to be seen if the momentum would extend to personal computers, smartphones and
Catastrophic computer outages caused by a software update from one company have once again exposed the dangers of global technological dependence on a handful of players, experts said on Friday. A flawed update sent out by the little-known security firm CrowdStrike Holdings Inc brought airlines, TV stations and myriad other aspects of daily life to a standstill. The outages affected companies or individuals that use CrowdStrike on the Microsoft Inc’s Windows platform. When they applied the update, the incompatible software crashed computers into a frozen state known as the “blue screen of death.” “Today CrowdStrike has become a household name, but not in