Despite Taiwan’s per capita GDP forecast to top US$40,000 this year amid the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, an economist warned of “K”-shaped industrial growth, which would result in low wages in certain domestic demand-oriented industries.
Dachrahn Wu (吳大任), director of National Central University’s Research Center for Taiwan Economic Development, said that Taiwan’s economy is largely driven by exports in the AI era, but the performance has diverged in a “K” shape.
“K”-shaped growth refers to a divergence of performance of different sectors with some moving higher, but others lower, in a graph of the economy resembling the arms of the letter “K.”
Taiwan’s GDP per capita is expected to hit US$40,951 this year, up from US$38,748 estimated for last year, according to the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS).
The local economy is expected to have grown 7.37 percent last year, a 15-year high, boosted by robust exports, and would grow an additional 3.54 percent this year, the DGBAS’ forecast in November last year said.
Among the 11 million people employed in Taiwan, the services sector employed more than 7 million in relatively low-paying jobs, while the electronics industry, the major AI beneficiary, employed only 1 million, including 300,000 in the semiconductor segment, which tended to offer higher pay, Wu said.
The DGBAS data indicated that average aggregate earnings, which include regular wages and nonregular wages such as bonuses, in the electronics industry hit NT$1.12 million (US$35,447) from January to October last year, while the figure for the computer/optoelectronics industry reached NT$939,550.
In the service sector, average aggregate earnings of the hospitality and food-and-beverage industry stood at NT$391,440, and the figure in the support services industry, which is comprised of travel agencies, was NT$414,710 during the same period, the data showed.
As the service sector serves as the largest employer in Taiwan, with the “K”-shaped development continuing, the impact on the sector would run deeper, Wu said.
The first priority is to turn the service sector around, he said.
The government should try hard to create business opportunities for the sector by boosting demand to solve the low wage problem and improve Taiwan’s wage structure, he added.
National Development Council Deputy Minister Kao Shien-quey (高仙桂) in a recent legislative hearing said that while the government would maintain Taiwan’s lead in the global AI and semiconductor competition, it would also take advantage of AI to help old-economy industries and the service sector to upgrade their operations.
Such efforts are needed to support domestic demand-oriented industries to have the entire industrial development tilt toward a balance, Kao said.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
A former soldier and an active-duty army officer were yesterday indicted for allegedly selling classified military training materials to a Chinese intelligence operative for a total of NT$79,440. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Chen Tai-yin (陳泰尹) and Lee Chun-ta (李俊達) for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法) and the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例). Chen left the military in September 2013 after serving alongside then-staff sergeant Lee, now an army lieutenant, at the 21st Artillery Command of the army’s Sixth Corps from 2011 to 2013, according to the indictment. Chen met a Chinese intelligence operative identified as “Wang” (王) through a friend in November
RSS