Taiwan’s export orders see full year of decline, and foreign investment in tech hub paints woesome outlook
- Orders for Taiwanese goods in August fell by 15.7 per cent, year on year, but tech sales are expected to get a boost through the holiday season
- Mainland China’s daily military flights over the Taiwan Strait also add to concerns about Taiwan as a safe place to invest
Taiwan’s exports and foreign investment cannot catch a break, as weakened global demand for consumer electronics continues to suppress demand for hi-tech hardware such as semiconductors.
Orders for Taiwanese goods, including those critically important computer chips, fell in August for a 12th straight month, year on year, the island’s Ministry of Economic Affairs said on Wednesday.
And the 15.7 per cent year-on-year decline, which brought the total value of orders to US$46 billion in August, reflected soft demand from abroad, according to analysts.
The ministry also said that the value of approved foreign investments in Taiwan had dropped by 27.58 per cent in the first eight months of the year. Approved capital from abroad over that period totalled US$7.52 billion.
Commitments to buy Taiwan’s consumer electronics – the top export category, with US$15.76 billion in August sales – fell by 17.3 per cent, year on year, according to ministry data. Orders for information and communication products decreased 14.6 per cent to US$12.19 billion.