The Statistics Department of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) completed an analysis regarding the current economic situation as of the 27^th of March and noted that the epidemic has impacted the global economy but that 5G infrastructure and high-efficiency computing have benefited from the outbreak while the trend of Taiwanese businessmen returning to Taiwan for plant development should continue. The MOEA also identified that several industries such as IC wafer, server, optical lens, and other industries are expected to grow, despite the adverse trend. Taiwan’s exports and manufacturing production in the first two months of the year also increased by 6.3% and 8.3% respectively, which have outperformed other countries.

        According to the MOEA’s analysis, if the manufacturing industry should successfully hold the advantages of emerging technologies such as 5G, AI, and electric vehicles, it should be able to develop against the trend, even with the impact of trade wars and epidemics. Based on an observation of the statistics in 2019, while the output value by the manufacturing industry has reduced by 5.8%, the output value of the IC and wafer testing industry has increased by 5.6% and 9.3% respectively last year, as a result of the drive by the demand for 5G and AI in the IC industry, both reaching new highs.

        The output value of servers, network connectors, measurement navigation, and control equipment has also increased by 210.9%, 79.4%, and 45.9% in their respective category annually due to the rise in the Internet of Things, Industry 4.0, and cloud computing. As for mobile device lenses, it has also benefited from the developments of high-end smartphone multi-lens and automotive electronics, so the output value increased by 22.4% year-on-year. The MOEA further demonstrated that industries such as testing equipment and parts for flat display, ready-to-eat meals, healthcare and nutritious food, electric motorcycle and electric bicycles, paper containers and paper bags, indoor fitness equipment, and others are expected to benefit from the trend.

        Concerning the future, the MOEA stated that the global epidemic remains grim as the economic outlook remains uncertain and the terminal demand is decreasing, which may possibly restrain the production and export momentum for Taiwan. However, the epidemic has also led to new modes of economic activities such as remote working, online learning, and online consumption, which produce the increased demand for network equipment, cloud servers, and laptop computers. Overall, such a change will somehow alleviate the impact of the epidemic.

        Since the novel coronavirus pneumonia (NCP, COVID-19) epidemic continues to progress, IHS Markit, a market survey agency, predicts that global economic growth in 2020 will only amount to 0.7%, therefore, decreasing by 1.8 percent from that of the previous month. Among them, the growth rate in the US, Euro area, and China are reviewed as decreasing by -0.2%, -1.5%, and 3.9% respectively. (News source: cnYes Network)