The amount of approved outbound investments in countries under the government’s New Southbound Policy (NSP) accounted for more than 50 percent of the nation’s total approved outbound investments last month, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said on Saturday.
The New Southbound Policy aims to enhance trade and exchanges between Taiwan and 18 countries in Southeast and South Asia, as well as Australia and New Zealand, to reduce Taiwan's dependence on China. It was introduced after President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) took office in 2016.
Data released by the ministry’s Department of Investment Review showed that the investments pledged by Taiwanese firms in the countries included in the policy totaled about NT$310 million (US$9.88 million) last month, up 29.97 percent from a year earlier.
Photo: CNA
The funds pledged for the countries made up about 57 percent of the total outbound funds — US$542 million — approved by the ministry last month.
Among the NSP countries, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia were the top three destinations for Taiwanese investors, the ministry said.
Last month, funds pledged for the Thai market jumped 243 percent from a year earlier to NT$49 million on the back of a large single investment plan worth NT$45 million, it said.
In contrast, approved investments bound for China fell 66.3 percent from a year earlier to US$95.61 million last month, it added.
The ministry said the support service industry in China, which includes travel agencies, attracted the largest amount of investments with a total of US$16.2 million from Taiwan last month, ahead of the electronics component sector with US$11.96 million.
Meanwhile, approved foreign direct investments last month hit US$684 million, up 134.62 percent from a year earlier, with the UK pledging the most investments at a total of US$325.81 million, ahead of Samoa (US$130.45 million), the ministry said.
Although investments in NSP countries rose, the approved investments in Taiwan pledged by these countries fell 83.21 percent from a year earlier to US$12.38 million last month, with Singapore, Australia and the Philippines being the largest investors, it said.
As for approved investments in Taiwan from China, the amount rose 245.72 percent from a year earlier to about US$3.05 million last month due to a relatively low comparison base last year, the ministry said.
The local wholesale and retail, electronic components and banking industries were the top three sectors to attract Chinese investors, it added.
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