ECCT Webinar

Taiwan economic outlook and factors of uncertainty

Guest speaker
Dr Roy Lee, Senior Deputy Executive Director, Taiwan WTO & RTA Centre, Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER) 中華經濟研究院WTO及RTA中心 李淳 資深副執行長

Date: Tuesday, 15 June 2021
Time: 10:30 – 12:00 (Taipei time)
Venue: Sign-in instructions will be emailed to all registered participants prior to the webinar
Address: Sign-in instructions will be emailed to all registered participants prior to the webinar

Taiwan's economy has outperformed most of the world since the begging of the coronavirus pandemic but a recent surge in Covid-19 cases has raised concerns that this outperformance may be brought to a sudden halt. Back by popular demand, our guest speaker at this event, Dr Roy Lee, will give his assessment of Taiwan's current economic situation and prospects for the year ahead based on the most up-to-date data and analysis.

In 2020 Taiwan's GDP growth hit 3.11% and in the first quarter of 2021, it rose by 8.16% from the same period a year earlier. For the first four months of 2021, Taiwan’s total trade value increased by 25.4% compared to the same period in 2020 in US dollar terms (18.3% in NT dollars) on the back of a surge in exports (up 28% year-on-year) and imports (up by 22.4%). In April, Taiwan's official manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) expanded at the fastest rate since July 2012, to reach 68.7, according to the Chung-Hua Institution and Economic Research (CIER), given the sharp rise both in new orders and production indexes. Even the non-manufacturing index reached 60.1 in April, the strongest reading since August 2014, indicating that service-focused companies have also benefited from the economic growth.

However, the outlook has become a lot less rosy since Taiwan started reporting a surge in daily Covid-19 cases in late May. With level 3 restrictions now in effect for the whole island, it is inevitable that some economic sectors will take a hit. In addition, as more of the developed world, including the United States, starts to open up again, can Taiwan still expect a continuation of robust demand for semiconductors and other electronic goods and components that have been the strongest drivers of Taiwan’s export-led economy over the past year?

At this event, our speaker will give a presentation and answer questions from guests via video conference call.

About the speaker

Dr Roy Lee (Chun) is currently the Senior Deputy Executive Director of the Taiwan WTO and RTA Center at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER). He is a member of both the Executive Yuan's Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and the Mainland Affairs Council's Advisory Committee. Dr Lee specializes in trade liberalisation policy, WTO, services trade, non-tariff measures (TBT and SPS) and regional integration. He is a policy advisor on Taiwan's trade negotiations with mainland China, New Zealand and Singapore and a capital-based expert on Taiwan's delegation for WTO services trade and TBT meetings and on its general liberalisation policy. He is (with Taiwan’s nomination) on the indicative list of Dispute Settlement arbitrators for the Taiwan-Singapore and Taiwan-New Zealand ECAs. In other capacities, Dr Lee is a frequent column writer on liberalisation policy for major newspapers in Taiwan. Before joining CIER in 2006, Dr Lee worked as a regulatory expert project consultant for the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) and the ASEAN–Australia Development Cooperation Program (AADCP). Dr Lee received his PhD in Public Policy from the Crawford School 

NT$250 for members and NT$250 for members' guest(s)
*To cancel without penalty, written cancellations must be received 24 hours prior to the event.

Contact: Amber Hsu/ Tel: 2740-0236 ext. 215 / amber.hsu@ecct.com.tw