The number of foreign direct investment (FDI) projects and the value of capital investment in the nation in the first 11 months of this year fell by a double-digit percentage from the same period last year as global investment plummeted due to containment measures relating to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Investment Commission said.
From January to last month, the number of FDI projects approved stood at 2,448, down 22.46 percent from a year earlier, while capital investment declined 17.57 percent to US$6.718 billion, commission data showed.
The financial services and banking, wholesale and retail, information and communications technology (ICT), electronic components and real-estate sectors were the major recipients of FDI during the first 11 months of the year.
However, while the ICT sector experienced a surge of 99.58 percent of capital inflows from the same period last year, the flows to the other sectors all fell, the data showed.
The commission said COVID-19 continued to impact investment, including business travel and economic activity, causing both the number of FDI projects and capital investment to slide.
Meanwhile, the number of investments from nations covered by the government’s New Southbound Policy also declined, with 480 approved in the first 11 months of the year, down 0.41 percent year-on-year.
However, the value of investment from those nations increased 172.45 percent to US$962.13 million in the first 11 months, the commission said.
The growth was mostly due to larger investments from Thailand, Singapore and Australia, including a NT$8.55 billion (US$308.24 million) investment by Cal-Comp Electronics and Communications Co Ltd (泰金寶) of Thailand and a NT$2.99 billion investment by Singapore’s Empyrion Ed Pte Ltd, it said.
During the 11-month period, investment from China fell to 37 cases, a drop of 56.47 percent year-on-year, while total investment was US$46.05 million, down 62.86 percent, the data showed.
In terms of outbound investment by Taiwanese firms, 371 cases were approved, down 21.73 percent year-on-year.
Total investment was US$9.72 billion, up 22.69 percent year-on-year mainly as a result of larger investments, such as GlobalWafers Inc’s (環球晶圓) US$2.5 billion investment in Germany’s Siltronics AG.
The increase in outbound investment reflects Taiwanese businesses scrambling for a share of the profits from the reshuffling of supply chains worldwide as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the commission said.
Outbound investments to nations covered by the New Southbound Policy fell 28.48 percent year-on-year to 113 cases in the first 11 months, but total value surged by 115.55 percent year-on-year, with Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand the main destinations.
Meanwhile, outward investment in China decreased by 12.81 percent year-on-year to 388 cases and dropped in value by 14.47 percent to US$4.79 billion.
The decline shows Taiwanese businesses taking a more cautious approach toward investing in China due to the volatile business environment as a result of a trade dispute between Beijing and Washington, the commission said.
COMPETITION: AMD, Intel and Qualcomm are unveiling new laptop and desktop parts in Las Vegas, arguing their technologies provide the best performance for AI workloads Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD), the second-biggest maker of computer processors, said its chips are to be used by Dell Technologies Inc for the first time in PCs sold to businesses. The chipmaker unveiled new processors it says would make AMD-based PCs the best at running artificial intelligence (AI) software. Dell has decided to use the chips in some of its computers aimed at business customers, AMD executives said at CES in Las Vegas on Monday. Dell’s embrace of AMD for corporate PCs — it already uses the chipmaker for consumer devices — is another blow for Intel Corp as the company
STIMULUS PLANS: An official said that China would increase funding from special treasury bonds and expand another program focused on key strategic sectors China is to sharply increase funding from ultra-long treasury bonds this year to spur business investment and consumer-boosting initiatives, a state planner official told a news conference yesterday, as Beijing cranks up fiscal stimulus to revitalize its faltering economy. Special treasury bonds would be used to fund large-scale equipment upgrades and consumer goods trade-ins, said Yuan Da (袁達), deputy secretary-general of the Chinese National Development and Reform Commission. “The size of ultra-long special government bond funds will be sharply increased this year to intensify and expand the implementation of the two new initiatives,” Yuan said. Under the program launched last year, consumers can
TECH PULL: Electronics heavyweights also attracted strong buying ahead of the CES, analysts said. Meanwhile, Asian markets were mixed amid Trump’s incoming presidency Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) shares yesterday closed at a new high in the wake of a rally among tech stocks on Wall Street on Friday, moving the TAIEX sharply higher by more than 600 points. TSMC, the most heavily weighted stock in the TAIEX, rose 4.65 percent to close at a new high of NT$1,125, boosting its market value to NT$29.17 trillion (US$888 billion) and contributing about 400 points to the TAIEX’s rise. The TAIEX ended up 639.41 points, or 2.79 percent, at 23,547.71. Turnover totaled NT$406.478 billion, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. The surge in TSMC follows a positive performance
FUTURE TECH: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang would give the keynote speech at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, which is also expected to highlight autonomous vehicles Gadgets, robots and vehicles imbued with artificial intelligence (AI) would once again vie for attention at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this week, as vendors behind the scenes would seek ways to deal with tariffs threatened by US president-elect Donald Trump. The annual Consumer Electronics Show opens formally in Las Vegas tomorrow, but preceding days are packed with product announcements. AI would be a major theme of the show, along with autonomous vehicles ranging from tractors and boats to lawn mowers and golf club trollies. “Everybody is going to be talking about AI,” Creative Strategies Inc analyst Carolina Milanesi said. “From fridges to ovens
RSS