Taiwan – Poised to Maintain Its Leading Edge

The Asian economic crisis that swept countries in the region in the middle of 1997 and continued throughout 1998, left only a few countries relatively unaffected.  Among them were Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan.  All three had enough reserves and resolve to combat the crippling effects of the crisis.

In the case of Taiwan, the years of being a trading nation, exporting to the world, and as a center for manufacturing, helped in many ways to lessen the effects of the economic fallout.  Yet Taiwan was not completely free of the crisis, as its economic growth began to several businesses were markedly affected and the4 availability of funds began to trickle.

Despite these setbacks, Taiwan has continued to remain a beacon in the East Asian region.  This has been due in part to the measures taken by the government and by businesses themselves. 

Some relief has already been seen in the last few months of 1998 and in the beginning of 1999. The stock market has seen a steady rise, especially with the Finance Ministry announcing lower taxes, the lowering of interest rates by the central bank and other structural liberalization programmes.

In a bold step, the Finance Ministry has now allowed and easing on foreign ownership of Taiwan stock, while banks business’ tax has been reduced to two per cent from the previous five. The government

has also recently approved an economic package that combines short-term and long-term measures to bolster the financial markets  and boost economic growth.

What the government has been preparing for are the tough economic challenges amid the fallout from the regional economic crisis and the financial troubles that many local firms have been facing.

The measures include steps to upgrade local industry and assist small and medium sized businesses, the backbone of the country’s economic, by granting tax exemptions to selected industries in the manufacturing, agricultural and services sectors.

The government is also allocating T$5 billion as a credit insurance fund for small businesses beginning in fiscal 2000, with the amount in the fund to be doubled in the next five years. The other measures have been designed to strengthen the island’s financial systems and economic fundamentals, corporate re-engineering, labour-related regulations and policies on land management and housing.

Many analysts see these as the kind of measures that will stimulate even greater growth after the stumble of the last year and a half. Available figures show that in 1998, Taiwan’s economy grew by 4.83 percent, a sharp fall from the 6.77 percent achieved in 1997. It is estimated that in 1999 a figure of nearly 5 percent may be achieved.

These are conservative estimates, prompting some to believe that with the corrective measures taken and with the greater liberalization Taiwan will see even greater growth figures in the last year of this century and continue to maintain its position as an Asian “tiger”.

The success achieved by Taiwan over the years has been based mostly on the skills and resources of its people.  Not endowed with too many natural resources, Taiwan has had to rely on human technology and in that it has make a world-wide name for itself.  It has become one of the leading providers of information products in the world and has notched the prime spot for scanners, notebook PCs and CD-ROMs.

While electronic and electrical products have been high profile, Taiwan is also the largest Asian exporter of woodworking machinery and the third ranking nation on a global scale.  This has naturally make it a world leader in furniture exports.

These are just a glimpse of the very many products and services that Taiwan provides and helps to explain how the country has been able to gain an international reputation.  Its greatest resource remains its people, who are hardworking, innovative and highly skilled.  Little wonder then that Taiwan has created a niche for itself in the global community.

中譯

台灣：繼續扮演領導者之角色

九七年年中掀起的經濟風暴使東南亞國家的經濟蒙上陰影，這股經濟旋風持續至一九九八年依然未息，只有少數國家能夠倖免於難，它們就是香港、新加坡和台灣。鑒於這三個國家擁有足夠的儲備金與應對能力，才能夠在經濟危機中倖存。

以台灣為例，它是以經貿為主的國家，出口貿易遍佈世界各國，同時具備製造業中心之地位，它在各方面的均衡發展，使其在經濟風暴中所蒙受的影響較低，進而減緩了經濟風暴所帶來的災害。儘管如此，台灣在此次經濟旋風中亦略受波及，

其經濟成長已經開始緩慢。其中最受影響的便是股票市場，而 銀行界亦感受到其中壓力。許多業務的經商底線已經被拉低，銀根開始呈現緊縮現象。

撇開上述創傷，台灣依然佔據著東南亞地區的領航地位。這得歸功於政府與業者本身的努力所致。這些績效，已經能夠從一九九八年年尾與一九九九年年初的業績顯現出來。 當財政部宣布減稅、中央銀行降低利率，再加上其他結構性之自由化計畫實施後，股票市場目前已經可看到穩定上升的趨勢。

關鍵性的步驟就是，財政部現在已經允許外資持有台灣股權，而銀行商業稅已經從以往的5%降低至2%。政府最近亦批准了系列經濟策略，包括短期至長期性的計畫，以期加快財經市場及經濟市場之發展步伐。就像許多國內機構一般，政府已經準備就緒，勇敢迎向嚴苛的經濟挑戰，在區域經濟中突破重圍，克服金融困境。

政 府所進行的多項輸出管道包括提升國內工業，幫助中小型企業發展業務，只有鞏固國家基本骨架，才能復甦國家經濟，其中包括對某些範疇如製造業、農業與服務業 特定領域實施免稅優惠等等。政府也撥款新台幣五十億作為信貸保障基金，在兩千年時供小企業作為業務基金，在未來五年內，這筆款項將雙倍增加。

另外所實施的策略包括加強本島財務系統與經濟基礎、機構再造工程、落實人力相關條規、土地與房屋管理法令等等。 根據分析顯示，上述各項步驟將刺激經濟活動，經過一年半的風暴後，將獲得樂觀的進展。

根據一九九八年所獲得的數據顯示，台灣九八年的經濟成長率為4.83%，與一九九七年6.77%比較，明顯的下降了許多。至於一九九九年，成長率約莫估計為5%。這是一項保守的估計，相信經過多項修正補救計畫之落實與更大程度之自由化，台灣將能獲得更傲人的成長率，繼續維持”東南亞之虎”的經濟地位。

台灣在過去數年所取得的傑出成就全賴於技術與人才。見於缺乏天賦的豐富資源，台灣只得發揮人力資源的應用，進而在國際建立了備受推崇的知名度。目前，台灣已經成為資訊產品的主要供應商，在掃描器、桌上型電腦與鐳射光碟方面成為屬一屬二的象徵。

除了在電子與電機等高檔產品方面頗具盛名，台灣同時也是東南亞木工機械之主要出口商，在全球市場上排名第三。理所當然的，它也成為世界首區一指的傢俱出口國。

這些只是台灣不勝枚舉之產品與服務的一小部分，目的僅在於幫助我們了解台灣如何脫穎而出，贏得國際推崇。它最偉大的資源就是人力，台灣國民勤奮、充滿創意且擁有熟練技術。結合種種因素，使台灣脫穎而出，在國際上建立了本身的知名度，欣欣向榮。

Let’s take a look at the weather. The Central Weather Bureau says that we are in for partly cloudy skies with brief rain in the north today and tomorrow. The high for today is 24. The forecast for the center of Taiwan is partly cloudy skies today, With a high of 28. The call is for mostly fair conditions in the south, high of 30. For tomorrow, the weather bureau says it will be mostly fair in the center and south. The current temperatures are 22 in Taipei, and 24 in the rest of Taiwan.

中譯

氣象報導

我 們來看一下天氣。中央氣象局表示，今明兩天北部將會是晴時多雲有短暫雨的天氣，今天氣溫最高二十四度。今天台灣中部的天氣預測事晴時多雲，氣溫最高二十八 度。南部的天氣預測大多是晴朗的好天氣，氣溫最高三十度。至於明天，中央氣象局表示，中部和南部大多是晴朗的好天氣。目前台北的氣溫是二十二度，台灣其他 各地是二十四度。