TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan's economy will continue on the positive course started last year with the return of investors evading United States tariffs against China, but the government will have to do more to join international trade blocs in order to avert marginalization, business leaders said Wednesday (Jan. 1).
U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Chinese imports and Taiwanese government policies have attracted more Taiwanese businesses to leave China or at least make new investment plans for the island in order to avoid the tariffs imposed over the past year.
Looking toward 2020, business leaders expect the trend to continue to fuel Taiwan’s economic growth. They have also called for help for small- and medium-sized enterprises to upgrade and progress as the age of 5G and AI rapidly approaches, CNA reported.
However, the Chinese National Association of Industry and Commerce, Taiwan (CNAIC) Chairman Lin Por-fong (林伯豐) noted that as a major exporter, Taiwan should also be actively seeking to join new trade partnerships, such as the CPTPP (Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership) and the RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership), or it could face being marginalized.
Other business leaders also suggested that Taiwan should seize the opportunity offered by the months of unrest in Hong Kong by seeking to establish itself as a regional financial center, according to the CNA report.
