President Tsai Ing-wen has visited the Taiwan Stock Exchange to thank brokers for their efforts over the past year. Monday’s trip marked the first time a Taiwanese president has paid a visit to the nation’s stock exchange for an official inspection.
Friday saw the last day of trading ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays, capping off a bumper year for Taiwanese stocks. Over the last twelve months, Taiwan’s stock index has risen by almost 4,000 points to its highest ever value. That’s an increase of more than 30%.
President Tsai says the high value of daily trade is a ‘triple-win’ for investors, the business world and government finances. She says tax receipts from stock trading reached over NT$150 billion (US$5 billion) last year. The president also has high hopes for the coming Lunar New Year. She says that although the Year of the Ox has not arrived, it’s already a bull market for Taiwanese brokers.
Tsai says that over the 60 years since it was established, the exchange has played an important part in Taiwan’s economic growth. Its task now is to ensure that Taiwan remains an important part of global supply chains in four key industries. Those industries are high-tech manufacturing, high-tech research and development, semiconductors, and green energy.