Taiwan's WTO Entry Raises Annual Ind. Prod. Value 6.9%

Taipei, Jan. 5, 2012 (CENS)--Since entering the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2002, Taiwan has seen its industrial, service and agricultural sector production values rise.

Chung-Hua Institute for Economic Research (CHIER), a major economic think tank in Taiwan, indicated that the island's industrial sector production value reached NT$8.63 trillion (US$287.67 billion) in 2002 and rose to NT$14.72 trillion (US$490.67 billion) by 2010, for a compound annual growth of 6.9%, the highest among the said sectors.

In the same period the service sector production value grew to NT$9.1 trillion (US$303.33 billion) from NT$7 trillion (US$233.33 billion) for average compound annual growth of 3.3%, with that of the agricultural sector rising to NT$426.3 billion (US$14.21 billion) from NT$350.5 billion (US$11.68 billion) with corresponding percentage of 2.48%.

During the period, the fossil fuel sector posted the highest average annual growth of 27.21% among all the industries, and organic chemicals and optical precision devices & parts followed with respective percentage of 25.67% and 22.48%.

Being a WTO member, Taiwan qualifies for preferential duties on some products including optical materials and basic metals, which have helped boost exports of optical devices and telecom items. Besides, Taiwan has revamped economic and trade structures to meet international criteria since entering the WTO in 2002 and participated in many international trade talks to negotiate better benefits for domestic manufacturers.