Exports to the 18 countries covered by the New Southbound Policy increased in the first quarter of this year, compared with the whole of last year, the Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations said on Friday.
The countries — which include the 10 ASEAN member states, as well as Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka — accounted for 20.8 percent of Taiwan’s total outbound sales in the first quarter of this year, compared with 19.4 percent for all of last year, the office said in a statement.
This shows that the 18 countries covered by the New Southbound Policy are becoming increasingly important export partners, it said.
Photo: CNA
The New Southbound Policy, which seeks to reduce Taiwan’s economic dependence on China, was launched after President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) took office in 2016.
The countries targeted by the policy accounted for 21.56 percent of Taiwan’s total outbound sales in the first quarter of 2015, Bureau of Foreign Trade statistics show.
In the first quarter of 2016, the first in which the bureau shifted to a general trade system method of calculation, exports to the countries constituted 21.54 percent of Taiwan’s total.
In the January-March period, bilateral trade with New Southbound countries fell 13 percent from a year earlier to US$37.54 billion, with exports totaling US$20.32 billion, down 13 percent, while imports hit US$17.2 billion, down 12 percent, the Executive Yuan’s Office of Trade Negotiations said.
Exporters have felt the pinch resulting from weakening global demand and a relatively high comparison base over the same period a year earlier, and exports fell 19.2 percent from a year earlier to US$97.75 billion, while imports dropped 15.8 percent year-on-year to US$88.84 billion in the first quarter of this year, it said.
However, exports to the countries increased in the first quarter of last year to 20.8 percent of all outbound sales, after constituting 18.9 percent in 2021, the office said.
As for agricultural exports, the office said that bilateral trade was affected by high inflation worldwide, aggressive rate hikes by major central banks and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, falling 11.6 percent from a year earlier to US$5.62 billion in the first quarter of this year.
Two-way trade in agricultural produce with New Southbound Policy countries totaled US$1.45 billion in the first quarter of this year, down 11.4 percent from a year earlier, but in line with the total decline in trade, while exports to the countries fell 7.1 percent from a year earlier to US$300 million, the office said.
Approved investment applications filed by the countries increased in the first quarter, totaling US$351 million for 128 projects in Taiwan, up 38 percent from a year earlier, it said, adding that the applicants largely came from Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.
More Taiwanese companies are interested in investing in the countries, the office said, citing 44 approved outbound investment projects, an increase of 96 percent from a year earlier to US$1.41 billion.
Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam were the major investment destinations, it said.
The state-owned Export-Import Bank, which was set up to facilitate Taiwan’s trade through financial measures, such as export credit insurance and relending facilities, approved NT$6.43 billion (US$208 million) in loans to Taiwanese exporters that sold goods to the countries in the first quarter, up NT$469 million from a year earlier, the office said.
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