A record 90 percent of US companies in Taiwan expect revenue growth this year, while many want the government to prioritize energy issues to ensure sufficient supply and stable voltage, the American Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan (AmCham) said yesterday.
While last year was challenging for the global economy, Taiwan demonstrated its resilience with an impressive economic performance, the chamber of 1,050 members from 500 international companies said in a survey it conducted last month and this month.
GDP growth is likely to fare well again this year, as demand for Taiwanese exports remains sturdy, it said.
Photo: Huang Pei-chun, Taipei Times
Consistent with this trend, the annual business climate survey indicated high levels of optimism among member companies regarding the economic outlook.
Among the respondents, more than 87 percent expressed confidence in Taiwan’s economic growth over the next 12 months, while 83 percent were positive about the outlook over the next three years, the AmCham said.
Taiwan’s stable economy has prompted a record 90 percent of members to indicate confidence in their revenue growth prospects over the next 12 months, with 91 percent confident over a three-year span, it said.
Sixty-one percent said that President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) should give top priority to the energy issue, followed by COVID-19 pandemic control (46 percent), cross-strait relations (42 percent), and trade agreements with the US and other partners (42 percent), the survey showed.
On the energy front, a majority voiced concern over power supply, voltage stability, the cost of electricity and progress toward green energy, with the degree of concern rising by double percentage points from a year earlier, it said.
Grid resiliency — a response item added this year — was a concern for 71 percent, it said.
Nearly 80 percent of respondents cited at some impact on operations from increased US-China competition, with more than 42 percent calling the effects positive.
As for economic accords, more than 65 percent supported the negotiation of a bilateral trade agreement with the US, while 62 percent backed Taiwan’s admission to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, the survey showed.
It said that 95 percent of respondents expected Taiwan’s bilingual policy to benefit economic development, but some doubted that the goal is achievable by 2030.
A Ministry of Foreign Affairs official yesterday said that a delegation that visited China for an APEC meeting did not receive any kind of treatment that downgraded Taiwan’s sovereignty. Department of International Organizations Director-General Jonathan Sun (孫儉元) said that he and a group of ministry officials visited Shenzhen, China, to attend the APEC Informal Senior Officials’ Meeting last month. The trip went “smoothly and safely” for all Taiwanese delegates, as the Chinese side arranged the trip in accordance with long-standing practices, Sun said at the ministry’s weekly briefing. The Taiwanese group did not encounter any political suppression, he said. Sun made the remarks when
The Taiwanese passport ranked 33rd in a global listing of passports by convenience this month, rising three places from last month’s ranking, but matching its position in January last year. The Henley Passport Index, an international ranking of passports by the number of designations its holder can travel to without a visa, showed that the Taiwan passport enables holders to travel to 139 countries and territories without a visa. Singapore’s passport was ranked the most powerful with visa-free access to 192 destinations out of 227, according to the index published on Tuesday by UK-based migration investment consultancy firm Henley and Partners. Japan’s and
BROAD AGREEMENT: The two are nearing a trade deal to reduce Taiwan’s tariff to 15% and a commitment for TSMC to build five more fabs, a ‘New York Times’ report said Taiwan and the US have reached a broad consensus on a trade deal, the Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations said yesterday, after a report said that Washington is set to reduce Taiwan’s tariff rate to 15 percent. The New York Times on Monday reported that the two nations are nearing a trade deal to reduce Taiwan’s tariff rate to 15 percent and commit Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to building at least five more facilities in the US. “The agreement, which has been under negotiation for months, is being legally scrubbed and could be announced this month,” the paper said,
Japan and the Philippines yesterday signed a defense pact that would allow the tax-free provision of ammunition, fuel, food and other necessities when their forces stage joint training to boost deterrence against China’s growing aggression in the region and to bolster their preparation for natural disasters. Japan has faced increasing political, trade and security tensions with China, which was angered by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remark that a Chinese attack on Taiwan would be a survival-threatening situation for Japan, triggering a military response. Japan and the Philippines have also had separate territorial conflicts with Beijing in the East and South China
RSS