November 26, 2004
Minister of Economic Affairs Ho Mei-yueh, noting that Taiwan Institute of Economic Research has recently predicted that Taiwan's economic growth rate will reach 5.9% this year, said that she thinks the growth rate will do even better by hitting 6%.
Ho cited Taiwan's export performance this year in backing up her prediction.
October exports increased 17.5% on the year to
USD 15.39 billion. The value of exports in the first ten months of the year has reached
USD 143.67 billion, just short of the record-high
USD 148 billion posted for all of 2000. Ho expects this year's total export value to create a new record by hitting
USD 160 billion.
Ho also noted that the global economy is recovering and global trade is on the rise. She pointed to economic growth in the US, Europe and Japan, adding that Japan's growth would be a stimulus for all of Asia.
Minister Ho made these comments while meeting with small and medium enterprises in Taichung in mid-November. She suggested that, for Taiwan to maintain economic growth levels, it should develop in the direction of biotech medicine, wireless broadband, energy recovery and efficiency, auto parts and accessories, and nanotechnology. Declaring the importance of the service sector to boosting employment levels, Ho went on to forecast that the service sector would grow by 6% each year, and that the knowledge-based service sector would experience annual expansion of 8%.
(Central News Agency)
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