Having an economy as reliant on high-tech exports as Taiwan’s was seen as a bad idea last year, as the pain of the global economic downturn was doubly felt by Taiwanese companies who were present at nearly every stage of the technology supply chain. As a result, Taiwan’s economy shrank by a record 10 per cent at the beginning of 2009.
Now the story is reversed, as the island is enjoying outsized benefits from the rapid recovery in the tech sector.
Taiwan, which announced a 12.5 per cent year-on-year growth in the second quarter on Thursday, is now expecting a China-like 8.2 per cent growth in its economy for the full year this year. This would be the fastest annual growth since 1980.