The government’s three major investment promotion projects, which help local firms upgrade their operations, delivered impressive results in 2023 despite global uncertainties, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said Aug. 5.
According to the MOEA, the negative impacts of sustained high inflation around the world, COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war continued to be felt in 2023. These challenges caused labor shortages and led to an increase in raw material prices, which saw construction costs rise by 20 to 30 percent and kept many investment projects from coming to fruition.
Despite these difficulties, Taiwan’s economy remained on track thanks to government strategies that facilitated financing and resolved legal and taxation issues, among other measures, the ministry said. According to the MOEA, statistics from this month show that the three projects have attracted investment plans from 1,518 firms totaling NT$2.33 trillion (US$71.4 billion), or 97 percent of the policy target of NT$2.4 trillion.
The ministry said 95 percent of the 593 firms pledging to invest by the end of 2023 honored their promises, and have created 153,000 new jobs in the process. The positive developments have also attracted additional investments from local firms in the artificial intelligence and electric vehicle sectors, the MOEA added.
Launched in 2019 in response to trade friction between the U.S. and China, the three initiatives are the Action Plan for Welcoming Overseas Taiwanese Businesses to Return to Invest in Taiwan, Action Plan for Accelerated Investment by Domestic Corporations and Action Plan for Accelerated Investment by Small and Medium Enterprises. (SFC-E)
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