Taiwan has long been known as a serious economic success story, its economy being one of the strongest and most stable in Asia. Once kno...
Taiwan has long been known as a serious economic success story, its economy being one of the strongest and most stable in Asia. Once known as a producer of cheap textiles and low-grade electronics, nowadays the 'Made in Taiwan' label can be found on a wide variety of high-end products, from laptop computers and LCD monitors to aluminium and carbon-fibre bicycle frames. Over the past several years, Taiwan's economy has begun to shift away from that of a purely manufacturing-based one. The reasons behind this shift won't come as a surprise to those familiar with current trends in the global economy; though political relations between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC) are frosty, both governments have long since recognised the benefits of encouraging strong business relations between the two sides. This has allowed Taiwanese companies like Acer, Giant, and many others to take advantage of the mainland's cheaper labour and highly motivated workforces to maximise profits for the company.
Though this policy has certainly increased corporate profits, it has also raised unemployment levels in Taiwan. At about 4%, Taiwan's unemployment rate is relatively low for the region, but still high for a nation used to near-full employment levels. Still, Taiwan's economy remains pretty strong; you don't tend to see former salary men sleeping on cardboard boxes in parks in Taipei, something quite common in Tokyo, Seoul, and other cities that have experienced marked economic downturns. Compared to the level of poverty visitors to the PRC will see, poverty levels in the ROC are negligible. Street beggars, ubiquitous in China, are a rarity in Taiwan.
Currently, one of the major factors slowing the pace of capital and investment growth between Taiwan and mainland China is the restrictions placed on travel between the two. While the lack of direct travel links between Taiwan and the Mainland is little more than a nuisance to the casual traveller (who needs to fly from one to the other via a 'neutral' political territory like Hong Kong), some in Taiwan - particularly the current administration - feel that such links would unduly accelerate the rate of job loss on Taiwan. The issue of direct links are discussed in greater detail in our History chapter.
Source: Lonely Planet Taiwan
Source: Lonely Planet Taiwan
0 comments:
Post a Comment