WHY YOU SHOULD CARE
Because Taiwan already had enough to worry about with an assertive China and the trade war between Beijing and Washington.

The Daily Dose 
Date: May 03, 2019 
By: Edward White

Growth in Taiwan has slowed to its worst level in almost three years, in the latest sign of fallout from a deepening slowdown plaguing the electronics sector, amid the U.S.-China trade war.

Gross domestic product growth, year over year, was 1.72 percent in the first quarter, according to a preliminary reading released last Tuesday, down from 3.15 percent in the first three months of 2018 and the slowest since the second quarter of 2016. Taiwan’s exports, which account for nearly three-quarters of GDP, have this year been hit by a sharp fall in demand for electronic components such as computer chips amid weaker device sales and slower global economic growth. Sentiment has been further dented by the trade dispute between the world’s two biggest economies.

WE ARE CURRENTLY … PROVIDING MORE INCENTIVES FOR THE TAIWANESE FIRMS TO COME BACK.

SHEN JONG-CHIN, TAIWAN’S ECONOMICS MINISTER
Shen Jong-chin, Taiwan’s economics minister, says the government in Taipei was hoping for a buffer from a wave of Taiwan-owned businesses with operations in China shifting production capacity back to the island to avoid higher potential tariffs being imposed by Washington on Chinese exports.

“We are currently taking advantage of this trend … providing more incentives for the Taiwanese firms to come back,” Shen says.

Forty such companies, including electronics groups Quanta Computer, Sercomm and Wistron, are expanding production in Taiwan, creating more than 21,000 jobs with investments totaling $6.7 billion, according to a government document accessed by this reporter.    [FULL  STORY]