Taiwan expects AI investments of US$7.3 billion in 2024 as exports expand for third straight month
- Taiwan’s exports expanded for a third straight month in January with year-on-year growth of 18.1 per cent
- Exports of electronic components – 92 per cent of which are chips – rose by 7.5 per cent, while shipments of information, communications and audiovisual products doubled
World tech powerhouse Taiwan expects investments of NT$230 billion (US$7.3 billion) in artificial intelligence (AI) this year as its manufacturing industry pivots toward the global trend and its exports improve rapidly after a tough 2023.
Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua said on Monday that Taiwan would reach the investment goal through a subsidy scheme, the development of generative AI semiconductors and a “pilot production line” for AI chips.
Exports, the chief moneymaker for Taiwan’s half-century-old tech hardware industry that includes advanced semiconductors, expanded for a third straight month in January with year-on-year growth of 18.1 per cent, the Ministry of Finance confirmed on Wednesday.
The unusually steep increase reflected a low base of comparison from January 2023, as well as keen interest in hi-tech exports, analysts said.
“Stronger demand and low base effects should deliver year-on-year growth in exports of electronics in January,” Moody’s Analytics associate economist Jeemin Bang said.
