High volume production has largely moved to China. So too has some of the engineering design and high-tech research work.
Some people make the brain drain claim (i.e. everyone smart is moving to Shanghai or Guangzhou).
I’d like to discuss this with the smart folks on this forum. Do you think Taiwan is becoming a backwater, economically?
Some stats to get us started (courtesy of the World Economic Forum and World Bank):
Growth-Competitiveness Rank 2005
Finland
U.S.A.
Sweden
Denmark
Taiwan
“Growth Competitiveness” is defined as that collection of factors, policies and institutions which determine the level of productivity of a country and that, therefore, determine the level of prosperity that can be attained by an economy.
I get around to lots of MNCs here in Taipei. Only one of the dozens of executives I see regularly is complaining about losing business, and his division is being phased out due to competition from S. Korean and local competitors, and because the company shot itself in the foot with an idiotic production scheme. Most of the folks I talk to are overburdened with too much business, and they cut across industry lines; financial services, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, electronics, software, etc.
[quote=“Shin-Gua”]Taiwan has shot its wad.[/quote]Well… I think there is some basis for that point being displayed.
Can we then expect this island to slip into the permanent status of a quirky banana republic ruled by a succession of tin pot looneys who steal and stash their ill-gotten gains off island? All the while increasing the wealth of their political and familial cronies as the infra-structure of the place falls into ever-increasig ruin?
Is this what the future holds? Or am I just being clairvoyant and seeing the future headlines of the local papers?
[quote=“TainanCowboy”][quote=“Shin-Gua”]Taiwan has shot its wad.[/quote]Well… I think there is some basis for that point being displayed.
Can we then expect this island to slip into the permanent status of a quirky banana republic ruled by a succession of tin pot looneys who steal and stash their ill-gotten gains off island? All the while increasing the wealth of their political and familial cronies as the infra-structure of the place falls into ever-increasig ruin?
Is this what the future holds? Or am I just being clairvoyant and seeing the future headlines of the local papers?[/quote]
While I appreciate the colorfully-written response, I’m more interested in fact than hyperbole. Do you have any economic data to support your response?
often in china in particular, economic data means less (or more) than reported. whilst i am not denying the growth of china, many commentators say if its a good figure halve it and if bad double it.
as i have said in other threads similar to this, taiwan is at a turning point that all economies face when in transition to a developed economy. whether she has the ability to capitalise on its new realty (such as the services industry - as opposed to service industry) is something yet to be seen. japan still isnt out of its doldrums so i think it will take time (unless the kmt props stuff up like it used to once it regains power)
i read an interesting article on chinese bicycles makers moving production out of china (too expensive) and into africa. china too will have its day.
search for a thread started by Tycoon… many of these issues have been discussed before.
[quote=“Tomas”][quote=“TainanCowboy”][quote=“Shin-Gua”]Taiwan has shot its wad.[/quote]Well… I think there is some basis for that point being displayed.
Can we then expect this island to slip into the permanent status of a quirky banana republic ruled by a succession of tin pot looneys who steal and stash their ill-gotten gains off island? All the while increasing the wealth of their political and familial cronies as the infra-structure of the place falls into ever-increasig ruin?
Is this what the future holds? Or am I just being clairvoyant and seeing the future headlines of the local papers?[/quote]
While I appreciate the colorfully-written response, I’m more interested in fact than hyperbole. Do you have any economic data to support your response?[/quote]Tomas -
Unfortunatrly, for this discussion, I do not have any figures, charts or graphs that would contribute to a ‘yea’ or ‘nay’ on your query.
I also think this is an interesting subject for study.
Gut-feelings tell me that there is somewhere something that will confirm the degeneration as suspected. However, as yet I can not offer it.
I will try to keep this in mind as I do my normal research duties and post what relevant information as I come across it.
Lets see what come up.
I can’t say who i work for but I do a lot of research on this topic, to say the least. Not bragging, just saying.
The brain drain that you mention would seem to be contracted by this company’s research: Shanghai is a popular destination, but frankly, the real brains dont want to go work in some polluted town in Guangzhou. So often the R&D is done in taiwan and the only thing farmed out to China is the actual production. Other times, in addition to that, workers are trained in Taiwan and sent to China to oversee production for a year or so until the operation gets up and running.
Taiwan, imho, will still be going in the right direction the more it transitions to a knowledge-based economy. They’re still not the top of the food chain though; companies making advanced electronics in Taiwan are still relying a lot on Japanese corporate and university research. GPS systems are a good example of this. And the Japanese are still supplying many electronics makers with the key brains of their gear, the basic chipsets, and the software/firmware too.