TAIPEI: The nation’s three major science-based industrial parks reported a 14.36 percent year-on-year decline in revenue in the first two months of the year, according to the Ministry of Science and Technology.
Production revenue at the three parks totaled NT$313.28 billion (US$9.66 billion) in January and February, down 14.36 percent year-on-year, ministry statistics released on Thursday showed.
The year-on-year decline was 20.27 percent at the Hsinchu Science Park, 16.56 percent at the Central Taiwan Science Park and 2.7 percent at the Southern Taiwan Science Park.
The optoelectronics and integrated circuit businesses saw the steepest drop in total production revenue, recording a decline of 24.13 percent and 12.5 percent respectively.
The Ministry of Finance said that Taiwan’s exports dropped 11.8 percent in February from the previous year, marking the 13th consecutive monthly decline, owing to flagging global demand, low prices of agricultural and industrial raw materials, and disruption of business operations in February due to the nine-day Lunar New Year holiday as well as a powerful earthquake that hit southern Taiwan on Feb. 6.
Last year, the three major science parks posted their first decline in total production revenue in four years, dropping 0.7 percent to NT$2.31 trillion but was still the second highest amount on record, according to science ministry statistics published last month.
The Ministry of Science and Technology has predicted that the joint production revenue of the three parks will grow by an annual 3.24 percent this year to NT$2.38 trillion, driven mainly by the Internet of Things, big data and semiconductor industries.
However, exports of Taiwan’s high-tech industries may be affected by slow global economic growth, intensifying worldwide competition, overproduction in China, and the emergence of China’s own supply chains, it said.
