The nation’s global competitiveness has climbed two notches to 13th place this year, thanks to a top ranking in economic stability as authorities effectively kept inflation and government debt at bay, according to a World Economic Forum (WEF) report released yesterday.
The improvement came after the Geneva, Switzerland-based organization adopted a new methodology to better capture an emerging set of drivers on productivity and growth in the era of the “fourth industrial revolution.”
Taiwan was the fourth-best performer in the Asia-Pacific region after Singapore (second), Japan (fifth) and Hong Kong (seventh), but ahead of Australia (14th), South Korea (15th), New Zealand (18th) and China (28th).
The WEF measured 140 economies using 98 indicators grouped under 12 major groups.
The US earned top spot on its market size, stability and innovation ecosystem — including idea generation, entrepreneurial culture, openness and agility.
Taiwan won the top spot in macroeconomic stability with a 10-year GDP average of 2.6 percent, supported by benign inflation and low government debt.
East Asia and Pacific economies including Taiwan were the fastest-growing in the world and drove about one-third of global growth last year, primarily due to China’s contribution, the WEF report said.
The region’s developing economies grew 6.6 percent, owing to a favorable global economic outlook that encouraged a rise in exports, it said.
Most boast world-class physical and digital infrastructure and connectivity, macroeconomic stability, strong human capital and well-developed financial systems, although performance on the innovation ecosystem is uneven, it said.
Taiwan was fourth in innovation capability with room for improvement in multi-stakeholder collaboration and scientific publications, it said. Meanwhile, its research and development expenditure has stagnated against GDP.
“The region’s innovation hubs — Japan, [South] Korea, and Taiwan — could improve on the so-called ‘softer’ drivers of innovation to attain the level of ‘super innovators’ such as Germany, the US and Switzerland,” it said.
The nation’s infrastructure score declined from last year, as the indices on the reliability of water supply, quality of roads and airport connectivity fell, it said.
Taiwan achieved seventh place in financial system performance, thanks to the world’s lowest non-performing loans and the highest insurance premiums against GDP, the report found.
The WEF’s findings lent support to the government’s New Southbound Policy as South Asia remains the region with the lowest trade penetration in the world, with imports and exports of both services and merchandise amounting to 39 percent of regional GDP last year.
The report also called for openness in global trade, saying liberalization is good for competitiveness and not necessarily bad for inclusion.
“International trade helps drive down wages and employment in the manufacturing sectors most exposed to foreign competition, but protectionist policies to curb income inequalities would be ineffective and counterproductive,” it said.
ANTI-SHIP CONFIGURATION: The Tuo Chiang-class vessels are to be built for NT$9.7 billion by Lung Teh, a shipyard that previously built four similar corvettes for the navy The Ministry of National Defense on Wednesday awarded Lung Teh Shipbuilding (龍德造船) a NT$9.7 billion Co (US$317.57 million) contract to build five Tuo Chiang-class corvettes with anti-ship capabilities, a defense official familiar with the matter said yesterday. The corvettes would carry vertical launchers for four Hsiung Feng II (HF-2) missiles, as well as eight Hsiung Feng III (HF-3) anti-ship missiles, in contrast to ships configured for anti-air warfare, which carry eight HF-2 and four HF-3 missiles, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The anti-ship corvettes would be armed for improved standoff range against surface combatants and carry the latest
PARTIAL SUPPORT: Morris Chang said he agrees with the US’ goal to slow advances of China’s chip sector, but US policies that might boost chip prices perplex him Washington’s efforts to on-shore semiconductor production might lead to surges in chip prices and supply bottlenecks, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) founder Morris Chang (張忠謀) said yesterday. The 91-year-old industry veteran said he supports parts of Washington’s effort to slow China’s progress on advanced chip manufacturing. China is still six years behind Taiwan in making advanced chips, despite years-long efforts to catch up, Chang told a Commonwealth Magazine forum that he coheadlined with Tufts University assistant professor Chris Miller, an expert on the US-China rivalry’s effects on chip manufacturing. However, Chang said that other parts of the effort, particularly Washington’s on-shoring
‘WRONG DECISION’: Honduras should carefully consider the situation, and not fall into China’s trap and jeopardize the bilateral friendship, the foreign ministry said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said that it had expressed “grave concern” to the government of Honduras after Honduran President Xiomara Castro on Tuesday wrote on Twitter that it would pursue official diplomatic relations with China. In addition to issuing a statement, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Yui (俞大㵢) summoned Honduran Ambassador to Taiwan Harold Burgos to the ministry in Taipei early yesterday to voice the government’s concerns. The meeting lasted about 20 minutes and Burgos did not make any public comments upon arriving at the ministry. Burgos said shortly after noon that he had not yet heard from his country’s
‘COINCIDENCE’: The former president should keep in mind local and global response to his actions and abide by the law to safeguard national interests, the MAC said The Presidential Office yesterday confirmed that it has received an application from former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to visit China next week and would be discussing his security detail. “As the travel restrictions on former president Ma have expired, we respect his plan to pay respect to his ancestors in China,” Presidential Office spokeswoman Lin Yu-chan (林聿禪) said. “We will review his travel plan and consult concerned agencies to assist him in arranging his security detail.” “We also hope that Ma, as a former commander in chief of Taiwan, acts in a manner that aligns with national interests and does not hurt
RSS