The American Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan is reporting that its members are largely optimistic about the Taiwanese economy’s prospects. That comes after a survey of member companies that returned 178 valid results.
Eighty-seven percent of respondents reported being optimistic about Taiwan’s economy, a slight increase from a similar survey conducted last year. Also up from last year’s survey was the number of respondents who said they are optimistic about Taiwan’s economic prospects over the next three years, which this year hit 83%.
However, in addition to optimism, the survey also found signs of worry within the business community. A majority of respondents expressed concerns about the government’s energy policy, the cost of electricity, the stability of Taiwan’s power supply, and the pace of green energy development.
The number of respondents concerned about electricity is up this year in light of two major blackouts that hit Taiwan last year and news of fires at electric plants. The concern also comes as President Tsai Ing-wen’s 2025 target for halting the production of nuclear power in Taiwan comes closer.
The survey also found some growth in the number of respondents who feel the US-China trade war is harmful to Taiwan. The number of respondents to this year's survey who said that the trade war benefits Taiwan was down eight percentage points from the more than 42% who saw the conflict as a good thing last year. Meanwhile, the number of respondents who said that Taiwan suffers from the trade war went up six percentage points from last year to reach 22%.
Other findings of the survey include broad support for talks towards a US-Taiwan trade agreement (over 65%) and for Taiwan’s entry into the CPTPP trade bloc (62%). Respondents also said that the four biggest problems facing Taiwan’s economy in the future are information security, fake news, inadequate protections for intellectual property, and the difficulty Taiwan faces in joining multilateral trade blocs.