Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/05/19
By: Huang Ya-chuan and Frances Huang

Taipei, May 19 (CNA) The year-on-year growth in output of the local manufacturing sector for the first quarter of this year hit a six-year high on the back of a strong showing in the electronic component industry, particularly in the semiconductor and flat panel sectors, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said Friday.

The MOEA said that the production value of the manufacturing sector for the January-March period totaled NT$3.17 trillion (US$105 billion), up 11.35 percent from a year earlier, the highest increase since the first quarter of 2011, when the growth reached 14.53 percent.

Due to Taiwan’s competitive semiconductor industry in the global market, as well as solid global demand for flat screens, the output of the local electronic component sector, which accounted for almost 30 percent of the manufacturing industry’s total, gained 10.26 percent from a year earlier to NT$890.5 billion in the first quarter, the MOEA said.    [FULL  STORY]