The Bureau of Foreign Trade (BOFT) said yesterday it would allocate more resources to achieve its target of more than 20 percent export growth in 10 major markets this year, as well as continue talks with the EU on signing a free-trade agreement (FTA).
The bureau said it aims to achieve an average export growth rate of 22 percent in China, Japan, South Korea, Russia, Brazil, India, Vietnam, Indonesia, Egypt and the Middle East — faster than the forecast growth of 15.4 percent for the nation’s total exports this year.
“We will dedicate resources on expanding exports to these major markets as the global economy is recovering,” BOFT Director-General Huang Chih-peng (黃志鵬) told a press conference.
The nation’s exports slumped 20.3 percent to US$203.7 billion last year amid the economic downturn, but major markets that the bureau focused on saw less severe export declines, it said.
Egypt, the third-largest market for Taiwanese exports in Africa, is one of its target markets for expanded exports this year.
The tax incentives offered by the Egyptian government has drawn in steady foreign investments and with a growing middle class, Taiwan could export quality and affordable products, Huang said.
The bureau will also organize investment trips to and join international trade fairs in Indonesia, which it said offers the best potential in Southeast Asia.
Indonesia’s fast economic growth provides a case for its inclusion in the so-called BRIC economies — Brazil, Russia, India and China — Morgan Stanley said last year.
The Indonesian economy could grow 60 percent in the next five years to US$1.57 trillion given a stable administration, lower capital costs and government plans to spend as much as US$34 billion to build roads, ports and power plants by 2017, it said.
This year, the government would also continue its efforts to join the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement, which represents a grouping of New Zealand, Chile, Brunei and Singapore, Huang said.
Taiwan will seek to join the grouping after the US, Australia, Peru and Vietnam have expressed interest in joining, he said.
The bureau said it would also continue pushing for an FTA with the EU, along with the US, Japan and the ASEAN countries.
The EU has told Taiwan it was still “premature” to sign an FTA but informal talks would continue, Huang said.
The expected signing of an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China would raise the profile of Taiwan, which could facilitate the signing of an FTA with the EU, Huang said.
The EU is the nation’s fourth-largest trading partner, after China, the US and Japan. Bilateral trade amounted to US$37 billion last year.
Semiconductor business between Taiwan and the US is a “win-win” model for both sides given the high level of complementarity, the government said yesterday responding to tariff threats from US President Donald Trump. Home to the world’s largest contract chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), Taiwan is a key link in the global technology supply chain for companies such as Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp. Trump said on Monday he plans to impose tariffs on imported chips, pharmaceuticals and steel in an effort to get the producers to make them in the US. “Taiwan and the US semiconductor and other technology industries
SMALL AND EFFICIENT: The Chinese AI app’s initial success has spurred worries in the US that its tech giants’ massive AI spending needs re-evaluation, a market strategist said Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) start-up DeepSeek’s (深度求索) eponymous AI assistant rocketed to the top of Apple Inc’s iPhone download charts, stirring doubts in Silicon Valley about the strength of the US’ technological dominance. The app’s underlying AI model is widely seen as competitive with OpenAI and Meta Platforms Inc’s latest. Its claim that it cost much less to train and develop triggered share moves across Asia’s supply chain. Chinese tech firms linked to DeepSeek, such as Iflytek Co (科大訊飛), surged yesterday, while chipmaking tool makers like Advantest Corp slumped on the potential threat to demand for Nvidia Corp’s AI accelerators. US stock
The US Federal Reserve is expected to announce a pause in rate cuts on Wednesday, as policymakers look to continue tackling inflation under close and vocal scrutiny from US President Donald Trump. The Fed cut its key lending rate by a full percentage point in the final four months of last year and indicated it would move more cautiously going forward amid an uptick in inflation away from its long-term target of 2 percent. “I think they will do nothing, and I think they should do nothing,” Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis former president Jim Bullard said. “I think the
Cryptocurrencies gave a lukewarm reception to US President Donald Trump’s first policy moves on digital assets, notching small gains after he commissioned a report on regulation and a crypto reserve. Bitcoin has been broadly steady since Trump took office on Monday and was trading at about US$105,000 yesterday as some of the euphoria around a hoped-for revolution in cryptocurrency regulation ebbed. Smaller cryptocurrency ether has likewise had a fairly steady week, although was up 5 percent in the Asia day to US$3,420. Bitcoin had been one of the most spectacular “Trump trades” in financial markets, gaining 50 percent to break above US$100,000 and