NOT RECIPROCAL:Despite an increase in deals, outward investment fell 34.7 percent, mostly because of a high 2017 comparison base, the Investment Commission said.
Approved investment in Taiwan last year from countries that are listed under the government’s New Southbound Policy jumped more than 40 percent year-on-year, according to data released yesterday by the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Investment Commission.
The growth shows that the policy has paid off, strengthening economic ties with countries covered by the policy and attracting more foreign investment, thereby reducing dependence on China, the commission said.
The 18 countries listed in the policy, which was launched by the Democratic Progressive Party government after President Tsai Ing-wen took office in May 2016, are the 10 ASEAN members, as well as New Zealand, Australia and South Asian nations, including India.
The commission approved a total of US$392 million in investment from policy countries, up 43.33 percent from a year earlier, the data showed.
Growth in approved investment from Thailand, the Philippines and Australia increased 942 percent, 393 percent and 142 percent, respectively, the data showed.
The commission approved 643 investment applications from countries listed in the policy, up 10.86 percent from 2017, the data showed.
However, the value of approved investment applications from Taiwanese investors in those nations fell 34.7 percent annually to US$2.42 billion, despite the number of deals increasing by more than 70 percent to 229, the data showed.
The decline in outward investment largely reflected a relatively high comparison base from the previous year, when Formosa Plastics Group secured approval to invest US$590 million in Formosa Resources Australia Pty Ltd and silicon wafer maker Globalwafers Co was approved to invest US$300 million in Singapore, the commission said.
Last year, approved investments from China in Taiwan fell 12.97 percent from a year earlier to about US$230 million, while the number of approved investment applications from Chinese investors was 141, up about 1 percent, the commission said.
China-bound investment approved by the commission fell 8 percent from a year earlier to about US$850 million, the data showed.
It was the fourth consecutive year of decline, the commission said.
The commission said Taiwanese investors secured approval to invest US$14.29 billion in overseas markets excluding China, up 23.51 percent from a year earlier, with the number of the deals up almost 30 percent to 638.
Meanwhile, approved foreign investments in Taiwan rose 52 percent to a combined US$11.44 billion, the commission said. |
Inquiry list
CYRUS Facebook INDUSTRIE 4.0/AUTOMATIC OPTIC INSPECTION
