Taiwan’s economic growth rate has been revised downward to 1.42% for the year. That's the latest figure released from the Yuanta-Polaris Research Institute, down from a predicted 1.93% in December. The institute’s forecast is the lowest of economic think tanks in Taiwan.
The institute’s chairman, Liang Kuo-yuan, says that Taiwan’s fundamentals and market are not stable. He said there are major problems in the structure of Taiwan’s economy. These include China's 'red supply chain', which threatens Taiwan’s high tech sector, as well as challenges facing the cloud computing industry. He also said Taiwan’s global companies have been marginalized. If these problems aren’t resolved, he predicts economic growth will be slow.
But Minister of Economic Affairs John Deng says people should not be that pessimistic about Taiwan’s economy.
"No matter what one says, our overall investment environment, supply of water and electricity, and rule of law are all still here. The foundation of our industries, R&D personnel, and corporate leaders are all here too. Now we are just facing the question of how to transform," said Deng, "Liang's prediction of an over 1% economic growth is of course not ideal. He said it is as if we’re in a soil liquefaction zone, that could collapse anytime. But we don’t need to be that pessimistic. We need to work hard, but we don’t need to be so pessimistic because our foundation is still here."
Deng also said that it is hard to control the global economy, but Taiwan should increase its competitiveness so that China will not catch up.