Taiwan's Inbound Investments Tumble by 20% to US$3.8B. in 2010

Taipei, Feb. 18, 2011 (CENS)--Investments in Taiwan made by overseas Taiwanese and international enterprises saw a sharp annual fall of 20% to reach a 6-year low of US$3.811 billion in 2010, but the number of such investment cases jumped by 20% to 2,042, according to the statistics compiled by the Investment Commission of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA).

The same tallies indicated that the number of new investment cases presented a whopping annual growth of 79.42% to 1,177 in 2010, a new high since 2004, with combined investment value of US$356 million. The number of capital increment cases stood at 1,724 with value totaling US$2.697 billion, the second highest of its kind. Besides, the number of share-purchasing cases came to 865 with value amounting to US$759 million.

In terms of industries, the finance & insurance sector was most favored by the said investors and absorbed investment value of US$1.23 billion last year. The wholesale & retailing sector ranked second with corresponding investment value of US$380 million, followed by electronic parts manufacturing with US$350 million, , financial holding US$280 million, and pulp & paper related industries US$140 million.

As for the outbound investment by Taiwanese investors, the number of cases approved by the Investment Commission in 2010 came to 247 with total investment value of US$2.82 billion, representing an annual decline of 1.59% and 6.06%, respectively.

The investment in finance & insurance sector topped with US$670 million, followed by financial holding with outbound investment value of US$570 million, non-metal mineral manufacturing US$300 million, metal product manufacturing US$290 million, and wholesale & retailing US$220 million.