ContentsOverview ........................................................................................................ 2

1. Trade Relations

1.1 Trade in goods .............................................................................................. 3

1.2 Trade in services ........................................................................................... 4

1.3 Rankings: imports, exports and overall trade volume .................................. 5

1.4 Comparison of EU-Taiwan trade with other main trading partners .............. 7

1.5 Trade by European Union Member States ................................................... 9

1.6 Structure by product ................................................................................... 12

2. Investment flows and stocks

...................... 14

2.2 Taiwan’s FDI in the EU: unrealised potential ............................................... 15

3. European presence in Taiwan & people-to-people exchanges

3.1 Europeans in Taiwan ................................................................................... 16

3.2 Taiwanese visitors to the EU ....................................................................... 16

3.3 Taiwanese students in the EU ..................................................................... 17

..................................................................................................................................... 18

1.

1.1 ..................................................................................................... 19

1.2 ..................................................................................................... 20

1.3 : ............................................................... 21

1.4 .......................................................... 23

1.5 ......................................................................... 25

1.6 ..................................................................................................... 27

2.

2.1 : ..................................................... 29

2.2 : ............................................................... 30

3.

3.1 ........................................................................................... 31

3.2 ....................................................................................... 31

3.3 ....................................................................................... 32

2

Overview

recession, as a consequence of which GDP in the EU-27 area grew by only 0.9 % in 2008

(Eurostat figures). With its high dependency on exports, the Taiwanese economy is very

vulnerable to global economic downturns. The Taiwanese Directorate-General for Budget,

Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) announced that Taiwan’s GDP grew only 0.1 % in 2008,

which was the lowest growth rate since 2001, when it stood at minus 2.1 %.

€39bn to €35bn. Nevertheless, 15 out of 27 Member States traded more with Taiwan than the

year before, and the EU was able to slightly reduce its trade deficit. Taiwan’s place among

Europe’s trading partners fell from 13th to 21st. The drop in ranking mainly results from the

jump by oil and gas exporting countries (Algeria, Ukraine, Libya) on the back of high oil prices

The structure of trade in goods shows that the EU is still a key industrial partner for Taiwan,

According to Taiwanese statistics, Taiwan’s trade with the EU in NTD remained almost at the

same level in 2008. Meanwhile, Taiwan’s trade with China almost stalled in 2008 after growing

by an average of 15 % from 2000 to 2007. Trade in services grew by €1bn or 20 % in 2007,

and was equivalent to almost 16 % of the overall trade in goods.

The EU holds 26 % of all FDI stocks in Taiwan, 1 % up on 2007. However, fresh FDI from the

EU to Taiwan fell, so that the EU is now only in second place after the US as the biggest foreign

investor.

Key figures

Overall trade volume between the EU and

Taiwan contracted by 9 %

European exports fell for the first time since 2001.

Taiwan dropped from 13th to 21st place among the EU’s trading partners

Overall trade in services grew by 20 %

3

Trade relations

1.1 Trade in goods

There are discrepancies between Eurostat’s trade statistics and Taiwan customs statistics,

among other things due to variations in exchange rates. There are also changes within Eurostat

2007 onwards refer to the EU-27, i.e. the EU with 27 Member States, including the two new

Member States (Romania and Bulgaria) which joined the EU on 1 January 2007. For reasons of

Compared to 2007, the trade volume in euros between the EU and Taiwan shrank by 9 %.

Taiwanese imports from the EU dropped 13 %, but Taiwan’s exports to the EU fell by only 8 %.

although its cover rate fell from 50 % to only 45 %.

growth rates in the EU-27 area and Taiwan were considerably lower in 2008 than in previous

years, at 0.9 and 0.1 % respectively.

Table 1: Trade in goods between the EU and TaiwanSource: Eurostat (€bn); EU-15 until 2003, EU-25 since 2004, EU-27 since 2007

1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

EU exports to Taiwan

12.0 15.1 13.4 11.9 11.0 12.9 13.1 13.2 13.3 11.6

Annual growth rate +25.8 -11.3 -11.2 -7.6 +16.8 +1.3 +1.3 +0.8 -13

EU imports from Taiwan

21.3 28.3 26.0 23.2 22.6 23.9 24.1 26.7 26.1 24.1

Annual growth rate +32.9 -8.1 -10.8 -3.4 +5.7 +0.9 +10.7 -2.2 -8

Total 33.3 43.4 39.4 35.1 33.7 36.8 37.2 39.9 39.4 35.7

Annual growth rate +30.3 -9.2 -10.9 -5.1 +9.2 +1.1 +7.3 -1.3 -9.4

Balance for the EU -9.3 -13.2 -12.5 -11.3 -11.6 -11.0 -11.0 -13.5 -12.8 -12.4

1

EU tradedeficit stable at €12.4bn

EU-Taiwan trade in goods contracted by 9 % in 2008

4

Trade between the EU and Taiwan is heavily dominated by machinery and electrical goods,

which showed a sharp contraction in the second half of the year. The global reduction of

liquidity due to the credit crisis also meant that bigger investments, replacement of machinery

or new stock orders were all postponed, explaining the decline in the trade relationship. In the

overall ranking, Taiwan moved down from 12th place to 21st among the EU’s main trading

partners, although this is partly due to commodity exporting countries such as Algeria, Ukraine

or Libya overtaking Taiwan. Since in the first half of 2008 energy prices rose steeply, these

countries easily climbed up the ranking.

1.2 Trade in services:

Trade in services between the EU and Taiwan grew in 2007 from €5.2bn to €6.2bn. The EU

increased its service exports to Taiwan, but there was also a 25 % rise in imports into the EU

from Taiwan. The value of trade in services in 2007 rose to almost 16 % of the overall trade in

goods.

The strong growth of Taiwanese services exported to Europe reduced the EU’s surplus

moderately – down from €1.4bn to €1.2bn. The total size of the surplus in services still pales in

EU-Taiwan trade in services grew by 20 %

Table 2: Trade in services between the EU and TaiwanSource: Eurostat (€bn); EU-15 until 2003, EU-25 since 2004, EU-27 since 2007

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

EU exports to Taiwan 2.0 2.0 2.4 3.2 3.1 3.4 3.7

EU imports from Taiwan

1.8 1.8 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.0 2.5

Total 3.8 3.8 4.5 5.3 5.2 5.2 6.2

Balance for the EU 0.2 0.2 0.3 1.1 1.0 1.4 1.2

5

1.3 Rankings: imports, exports and overall trade volume

In the overall ranking Taiwan dropped from 13th to 21st place. Countries such as India and Brazil, that used to be on a par with Taiwan, have overtaken it in the past year, so that Taiwan is now in the same league as Australia and Mexico among the EU’s trading partners.

On the import side, Taiwan lost only one place, from 12th to 13th, exporting €24.1bn worth of goods to the EU compared to €26bn in 2007. Its share of the EU’s total imports dropped from 1.8 % to 1.6 %. It is interesting to note that while Taiwan’s exports to the EU shrank by €2bn, Korea’s exports to the EU remained unchanged.

EU exports to Taiwan fell by 13 %, so that Taiwan moved down five places in the ranking to become the 27th largest client of the EU, purchasing 0.9 % of total EU goods. This has further widened the gap with other Asian countries. Although Taiwan in 2008 took steps on the way to joining the WTO Government Procurement Agreement, there are still a number of market

Taiwanese market.

Table 3: A The EU’s leading trade partnersSource: DG Trade, European Commission (€m)

The EU does not exploit the full potential of the

Taiwanese market

The Major Imports Partners

RK Partners Million euro %

Extra EU27 1,550,587 100.0%

1 China 247,628 16.0 %

2 USA 186,276 12.0 %

3 Russia 173,214 11.2 %

4 Norway 91,923 5.9 %

5 Switzerland 80,026 5.2 %

6 Japan 74,713 4.8 %

7 Turkey 45,880 3.0 %

8 South Africa 39,145 2.5 %

9 Brazil 35,461 2.3 %

10 Libya 34,145 2.2 %

11 India 29,381 1.9 %

12 Algeria 28,541 1.8 %

13 Taiwan 24,059 1.6 %

14 Canada 23,772 1.5 %

15 South Africa 22,159 1.4 %

16 Saudi Arabia 21,111 1.4 %

17 Malaysia 17,529 1.1 %

18 Kasakhstan 17,262 1.1 %

19 Thailand 17,130 1.1 %

20 Singapore 16,173 1.0 %

The Major Imports Partners

RK Partners Million euro %

Extra EU27 1,550,587 100.0%

21 Nigeria 15,386 1.0 %

22 Ukraine 14,300 0.9 %

23 Iran 14,174 0.9 %

24 Mexico 13,806 0.9 %

25 Indonesia 13,440 0.9 %

26 Hong Kong 11,419 0.7 %

27 Chile 11,259 0.7 %

28 Australia 11,219 0.7 %

29 Israel 11,188 0.7 %

30 Azerbaijan 10,549 0.7 %

6

table, without ‘N.det.Extra’ and ‘Stores&Provisions’, Taiwan would be ranked 25th export partner.

The Major Exports Partners

RK PartnersMillioneuro

%

Extra EU27 1,550,587 100.0%

1 USA 249,282 19.0 %

2 Russia 105,155 8.0 %

3 Switzerland 97,584 7.5 %

4 China 78,383 6.0 %

5 Turkey 54,242 4.1 %

6 Norway 43,580 3.3 %

7 Japan 42,352 3.2 %

8 U.A.Emirates 31,662 2.4 %

9 India 31,509 2.4 %

10 Brazil 26,304 2.0 %

11 Canada 26,114 2.0 %

12 South Korea 25,634 2.0 %

13 Australia 25,172 1.9 %

14 Ukraine 25,135 1.9 %

15 Mexico 22,042 1.7 %

16 Singapore 21,958 1.7 %

17 Saudi Arabia 21,236 1.6 %

18 Hong Kong 21,066 1.6 %

19 South Africa 20,217 1.5 %

20 Algeria 15,302 1.2 %

21 N. det.Extra 14,562 1.1 %

22 Morocco 14,403 1.1 %

23 Croatia 14,317 1.1 %

24 Israel 14,063 1.1 %

25 Stores and provis 13,187 1.1 %

26 Egypt 12,711 1.0 %

27 Taiwan 11,629 0.9 %

28 Malaysia 11,542 0.9 %

29 Iran 11,360 0.9 %

30 Nigeria 11,203 0.9 %

The Major Trading Partners

RK PartnersMillioneuro

%

Extra EU27 2,859,971 100.0%

1 USA 435,560 15.2 %

2 China 326,011 11.4 %

3 Russia 278,369 9.7 %

4 Switzerland 177,610 6.2 %

5 Norway 135,504 4.7 %

6 Japan 117,065 4.1 %

7 Turkey 100,122 3.5 %

8 South Korea 65,018 2.3 %

9 Brazil 61,765 2.2 %

10 India 60,890 2.1 %

11 Canada 49,886 1.7 %

12 Algeria 43,843 1.5 %

13 South Africa 42,376 1.5 %

14 Saudi Arabia 42,347 1.5 %

15 Libya 39,880 1.4 %

16 Ukraine 39,435 1.4 %

17 Singapore 38,131 1.3 %

18 U.A.Emirates 37,483 1.3 %

19 Australia 36,391 1.3 %

20 Mexico 35,848 1.3 %

21 Taiwan 35,688 1.2 %

22 Hong Kong 32,485 1.1 %

23 Malaysia 29,071 1.0 %

24 Nigeria 26,589 0.9 %

25 Thailand 25,616 0.9 %

26 Iran 25,535 0.9 %

27 Israel 25,251 0.9 %

28 N. det.Extra 23,483 0.8 %

29 Kasakhstan 22,932 0.8 %

30 Morocco 22,760 0.8 %

Taiwan drops from 22nd largest EU export

market to 27th

7

1.4 Comparison of EU-Taiwan trade with other main trading partners

trade with India however grew by 7 %. Because European exports to Taiwan dropped more

than Taiwan’s exports to the EU, the cover rate decreased from 50 % to only 45 %.

The EU is still Taiwan’s 4th largest trading partner

Figure 1: Trade between the EU and Taiwan since 1990Source: Taiwan Customs Statistics (US$ bn)

Table 4: The EU’s trade with its main Asian partners in 2008Source: Eurostat (€bn)

China Japan Korea India Taiwan

Trade volume 325 116 64 60 35

Exports from EU 78 42 25 31 11

Imports into EU 247 74 39 29 24

Balance -169 -32 -14 +2 -13

Cover rate31 % 56 % 64 % 106 % 45 %

Trabe between the EU and Taiwan since 1990(bn USD-Source: Taiwan Customs Statis-EU-27 since 2007)

50454035302520151050

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

Total trade EU imports EU exports

Taiwan’s trade with China stalled for the first time since 2001

8

(€14bn), the total volume of EU trade with Korea is 85 % larger.

According to Taiwanese statistics, Taiwan’s trade with China in 2008 almost stalled, after

growing on average 15 % between 2000 and 2007. Total trade with Japan showed a slight

increase, whereas trade with the US decreased. The EU has remained in 4th place in the

ranking of Taiwan’s biggest trade partners.

Figure 2: Share of Taiwan’s external trade Source: Taiwan Customs Statistics

Figure 3: Taiwan’s trade with its main partners Source: Taiwan Customs Statistics (US$bn)

Taiwan’s Trade with its main Partners(bn USD-2008-Source: Taiwan Customs Statistics)

140

120

100

80

60

40

20

0

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

China (incl. HK) Japen USA EU

Share of Taiwan’s External Trade (2008)

Others, 23.66%

Australia, 2.37%

Malaysia, 2.48%

Singapure, 3.33%

South Korea,4.41%

Saudi Arabia,3.26%

EU, 9.37% USA, 11.51%

Japan, 12.91%

China, 26.7%

9

1.5 Trade with European Union Member States

The EU’s single market and the free movement of goods on that market make it difficult to

Due to its leading position on the world market in areas such as machine tools and other

mechanical equipment, Germany is still Taiwan’s largest trading partner within the EU. German

statistics in 2008 recorded a moderate 3% decline year on year, while the Taiwanese Ministry

of Finance published a rate of 17,3% increase in trade over the same period of time. According

to this data, Germany traded almost twice as much as the second-ranked Netherlands, which

countries account for more than 70 % of EU-Taiwan trade.

Poland and Estonia showed a sharp drop in trading volume, whereas Romania and Bulgaria

still recorded a healthy increase in overall trade levels. In total, 15 out of the 27 Member States

traded more with Taiwan than in 2007, with Spain following Germany with a 15 % increase in

its trade.

2008 marked the end of a period of growth in

bilateral trade since 2002

10

Table 5: Taiwan’s trade with EU Member States in 2008 Source: Taiwanese Directorate-General of Customs, Ministry of Finance; (US$m)

EU exports EU imports Total 2007 Balance 2007

Germany 7478 5730 13209 12047 1748 2043

Netherlands 2356 4565 6921 7091 -2209 -1565

UK 1917 3630 5447 5420 -1713 -1642

Italy 1635 2449 4084 3866 -814 -928

France 2292 1730 4022 4061 562 693

Spain 482 1859 2342 1987 -1377 -1095

Belgium 592 1181 1773 1665 -589 -577

Finland 501 945 1446 1498 -444 -236

Sweden 553 706 1259 1100 -153 -58

Austria 480 467 947 1080 13 104

Hungary 91 557 648 867 -466 -731

Poland 92 715 807 855 -623 -677

Ireland 384 309 693 814 75 -18

Denmark 230 488 718 806 -258 -356

Slovakia 36 437 473 573 -401 -461

Portugal 40 548 588 459 -508 -375

Czech Rep. 104 482 586 434 -378 -228

Greece 91 276 367 317 -185 -193

Cyprus 49 5 54 234 44 201

Estonia 10 133 143 202 -123 -68

Malta 38 42 81 186 -4 -32

Romania 67 146 213 173 79 -89

Luxembourg 41 105 146 141 -64 -95

Lithuania 12 136 148 141 -124 -119

Bulgaria 24 144 168 111 -120 -67

Latvia 10 126 136 106 -116 -92

Slovenia 29 90 119 88 -61 -56

Germany is still the singlelargest trading partner

among the Member States

11

Figure 4: Trade volume between the EU-27 and TaiwanSource: Taiwan Customs Statistics (US$m)

Figure 5: Share of EU trade volume with Taiwan in 2008 Source: Taiwan Customs Statistics

The Netherlands, Cyprus and Finland were the Member States with the biggest drop in exports

to Taiwan. Apart from being the biggest trading partner, Germany is also one of the few

countries that had a trade surplus with Taiwan in 2008 (according to the Taiwanese statistics,

whereas German statistics show a slight deficit), the others being France, Austria, Ireland,

with Taiwan; Sweden’s increased threefold while Austria managed to reduce its deficit from

US$ 104m to a small trade surplus of US$ 13m.

Trabe Volume between EU-27 and Taiwan(By Member State-million USD-2008-Source: Taiwan Customs Statistics)

12000

8000

4000

0

Ger

man

yN

ethe

rland

sU

KF

ranc

eIta

lyS

pain

Bel

gium

Fin

land

Sw

eden

Aus

tria

Hun

gary

Pol

and

Irel

and

Den

mar

kS

lova

kia

Por

tuga

lC

zech

Rep

.G

reec

eC

ypru

sE

ston

iaM

alta

Rom

ania

Luxe

mbo

urg

Lith

uani

aB

ulga

riaLa

tvia

Slo

veni

a

EU exports EU imports

Share of EU Trade Volume with Taiwan (2008)

Others14%

Sweden3%

Austria2%

Finland3%

Belgium4%

Spain5%

Italy8%

France8% UK

11%

Netherlands14%

Germany28%

12

1.6 Structure by product

Taiwan’s exports to the EU

are assembled in Taiwan or Mainland China and then sold to Europe and the rest of the world.

According to the Taiwanese International Trade Bureau, exports of bicycles to Europe showed

a 28 % increase in 2008, while exports of solar panels rose by 97 %, with photovoltaic cells

alone rising by more than 1 000 %.

The Taiwanese economy is one of the world’s leading suppliers of computer and memory

chips and semiconductors as well as being a leading supplier of LCD screens. In 2008,

however, sales of LCD screens dropped by 21 %, and exports of electronic DRAM parts wafers

contracted by 10 %.

rising from €2.972bn to €10.883bn in 2008. The share of this product category within the total

amount of products imported into the EU rose from 11.4 to 45.3 %; Taiwanese statistics also

show that the sale of mobile phones increased by 57 %.

from €208m in 2007 to €1.263bn in 2008, almost six times as high. The EU also recorded a big

in 2007 to €2.603bn in 2008.

The EU’s exports to Taiwan

Taiwan imports mainly semi-finished products, machinery and equipment components from

the EU, which it then turns into commodity products for export. The biggest item that the EU

exported to Taiwan in 2008 was ‘Chips and wafers of other monolithic circuits’, which was 5 %

down on 2007. The second biggest category was ‘Waste and scrap of stainless steel’, which

showed an increase of 7 %.

In 2008, sales of LCD screens dropped by 21 %

13

Table 6: Rank of Taiwan in European Union trade Source: Eurostat 2009 (€m)

European Union imports from ... Taiwan

RankSITC Rev.3

Product groupsMillion euro

Share of total EU imports

%

15 TOTAL 24,044 1.55 100.0

89 Agricultural products 102 0.09 0.4

48 Energy 450 0.10 1.9

11 Non-agricultural raw materials 167 0.14 0.7

6 10,883 6.41 45.3

14 1,996 1.83 8.3

10 Transport equipment 1,676 1.75 7.0

17 Chemicals 884 0.72 3.7

25 Textiles and clothing 461 0.57 1.9

17 Iron and steel 801 1.87 3.3

European Union Exports to ... Taiwan

RankSITC Rev.3

Product groupsMillion euro

Share of total EU exports

%

28 TOTAL 11,625 0.89 100.0

32 Agricultural products 604 0.77 5.2

61 Energy 55 0.07 0.5

13 Non-agricultural raw materials 135 0.07 1.2

19 1,263 1.55 10.9

24 2,603 1.00 22.4

43 Transport equipment 741 0.39 6.4

24 Chemicals 2,066 1.03 17.8

32 Textiles and clothing 195 0.56 1.7

30 Iron and steel 329 0.79 2.8

Share by products in EU 27 Total Trade excliding Intra-EU trade.

The EU is an important industrial partner for Taiwan

14

2stocks

businesses do not necessarily have clear-cut geographical roots. For this reason, investment

statistics must be treated with caution.

2.1 The EU’s FDI in Taiwan: effects of the global financial crisis

of recent years is visible in Taiwan, where the EU is no longer the biggest holder of foreign

investment stocks, and FDI inflows were considerably lower than in 2007. However, this is

mainly to due to the lack of fresh foreign capital and general caution of investors, and does not

signify shifting importance in the bilateral trade relationship.

but only came in second after the US, which increased its share to 35.23 % of FDI stock.

Japan’s share of the stock, on the other hand, went down from 16 % in 2007 to 4.7 % in 2008.

fresh European FDI in Taiwan was US$1.94bn, which is almost 75 % lower than the US$7.9bn

euros:

Figure 6: EU FDI since 2004 Source: Eurostat (€m)

A shift in the trend: the EU is no longer the biggest holder of foreign investment

EU FDI since 2004

14,000

12,000

10,000

8,000

6,000

4,000

2,000

02004 2005 2006 2007

Million Euros

15

2.2 Taiwan’s FDI in the EU: unrealised potential

from €400bn to €173bn.

The US remains the biggest investor in the EU-27 with €45bn in 2008, compared with €194bn

in 2007. Investments in the EU-27 from Japan and India fell notably, while investments from

Canada and Brazil rose, from €14bn to €18bn and from €2bn to €7bn respectively. Despite

China’s growing importance in trade in goods, FDI in the EU coming from China (excluding

Hong Kong) remained modest in 2008, worth only €0.1bn in the EU-27.

However, in proportion to the level of trade and the EU’s ranking among trading partners,

Taiwan’s FDI also remains cautiously low. In 2008, The EU as a whole is only the 10th

destination for Taiwan’s outward investment.

Statistics (DGBAS), Taiwan exports the most per person to Japan, while the EU came third, just

ahead of China.

Taiwan is not fully using its opportunities to invest

in the large European market: in 2008, the

EU was only the 10th destination for Taiwan’s

outward investment

Europe, the world’s largest economy and

market, deserves more attention from Taiwan

16

European presence in Taiwan & people-to-people exchanges

3.1 Europeans in Taiwan

The number of foreigners in Taiwan has been rising steadily in the past few years, reaching

There is strong growth in the number of students attending the Taipei European School, which now has 1 143 pupils, continuing the upward trend since its inception in 1990 with 60 children. Europeans make up 40 % of all pupils attending: they now number 457, an increase of 57 students within the last year.

The European Chamber of Commerce (ECCT), representing the interests of European business in Taiwan, has also increased its membership. It now counts around 700 individual members as well as 472 corporations and organisations, a 10 % and 12 % increase respectively compared

has since 2003 been represented in the form of the European Economic and Trade Office (EETO).

The total number of tourist visas issued by the Taiwanese to Europeans in 2008 was 147 646, with roughly two thirds for business purposes (99 548) and one third (48 098) for leisure. However, this does not take into account travellers with the right to enter without a visa for up to 30 days, a facility granted to visitors from the EU-25 among other countries worldwide.

3.2 Taiwanese visitors to the EU

The number of visas requested from Taiwan to the EU fell again sharply by 23 % year on year,

with only 218 411 visas in total issued. A strong euro and the economic crisis that hit the

world in the second half of 2008 explain this sharp drop. In March 2009, the UK lifted the visa

to the UK is expected.

Figure 7: Total visas issued by the EUSource: EETO, 2008

3

Taiwan is becoming more and more attractive

for European businesses and individuals

Total Visas Issued by the EU

350000

300000

250000

200000

1500001997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

216323 234040 240406 266428 251366 259007 209770 270928 298012 331913 282426 218411Total

17

3.3 Taiwanese students in the EU

According to the Ministry of Education, the number of Taiwanese students studying abroad in 2008 has risen to its highest number since 2001, with a total of 37 800. As the National Youth Commission notes, the number of Taiwanese students studying abroad since 1988 has been rising every year.

Since then, several phases can be distinguished. The first phase shows a rise in figures up to 2001, when a slow drop began to the lowest number so far in 2003. In the following three years, numbers rose again, before plummeting in 2007. Initial assessments indicate that factors such as high or rising tuition fees of foreign universities, falling scholarship awards, and military service were causing the decreases. The rise in the total number of Taiwanese students abroad is mainly due to a strong increase in students going to the US, as Europe recorded another sharp drop.

The largest decrease was seen in the UK and Spain, whose numbers both dropped by 18 % compared to 2007. Germany, which had shown a steady increase in the past, also had 8 % fewer students, whereas smaller countries such as Ireland and the Czech Republic more than doubled the number of Taiwanese students attending their universities. It remains to be seen if the downward trend continues into 2009, when the global economic crisis might slowly affect higher education. On the contrary, the fall in the British pound might reverse the negative trend, as studying at the country’s top universities becomes cheaper again.

Support for students studying in the EU remains widely available, from various sources such as Taiwan’s Ministry of Education, individual Member States and the European Commission’s Erasmus Mundus Programme. In this programme, aimed at those enrolled on Master’s level courses, more than 60 students have received generous sponsorship since 2005.

Figure 8: Taiwanese student visasSource: Taiwanese Ministry of Education, 2008

Studying in Europe remains popular,

especially in the smaller Member States

Taiwanese Student Visas

25000

20000

15000

10000

5000

0

19931994

19951996

19971998

19992000

20012002

20032004

20052006

20072008

USANEW ZEALAND

CANADAJAPAN

AUSTRALIAEU

18

2008

27 2008 GDP 0.9%

2008 GDP 0.1% 2001

2.1%

2001 390

350 27 15

13 21

2008

2008 20%

16% 2008

2000 2007 15%

26% 2007

9%

2001

1321

20%

19

1.1

2007 2007 1 1

2006

25

2007 9%

13% 8%

2007 128 2008 124

27

2008 GDP 2008 GDP 0.9%

0.1%

2008

12 21

2008

20089%

1

20

1 :: € – 2003 15 EU-15 – 2004

25 EU-25 – 2007 27 EU-27

1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

12.0 15.1 13.4 11.9 11.0 12.9 13.1 13.2 13.3 11.6

+25.8 -11.3 -11.2 -7.6 +16.8 +1.3 +1.3 +0.8 -13

21.3 28.3 26.0 23.2 22.6 23.9 24.1 26.7 26.1 24.1

+32.9 -8.1 -10.8 -3.4 +5.7 +0.9 +10.7 -2.2 -8

33.3 43.4 39.4 35.1 33.7 36.8 37.2 39.9 39.4 35.7

+30.3 -9.2 -10.9 -5.1 +9.2 +1.1 +7.3 -1.3 -9.4

-9.3 -13.2 -12.5 -11.3 -11.6 -11.0 -11.0 -13.5 -12.8 -12.4

1.2

2007 52 62

25% 2007

15.7%

14

12 1282007

20%

2 :: € – 2003 15 EU-15 – 2004

25 EU-25 – 2007 27 EU-27

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

2.0 2.0 2.4 3.2 3.1 3.4 3.7

1.8 1.8 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.0 2.5

3.8 3.8 4.5 5.3 5.2 5.2 6.2

0.2 0.2 0.3 1.1 1.0 1.4 1.2

124

21

1.3 :

13 21

12 13

2007 260 241

1.8% 1.6%

13%

0.9%

2008

3 :: ( € )

-

%

1,550,587 100 %1 247,628 16.0 %2 186,279 12.0 %3 173,214 11.2 %4 91,923 5.9 %5 80,026 5.2 %6 74,713 4.8 %7 45,880 3.0 %8 39,384 2.5 %9 35,461 2.3 %

10 34,145 2.2 %11 29,381 1.9 %12 28,541 1.8 %13 24,059 1.6 % 14 23,772 1.5 %15 22,159 1.4 %16 21,111 1.4 %17 17,529 1.1 %18 17,262 1.1 %19 17,130 1.1 %20 16,173 1.0 %

%

1,550,587 100 %21 15,386 1.0 %22 14,300 0.9 %23 14,174 0.9 %24 13,806 0.9 %25 13,440 0.9 %26 11,419 0.7 %27 11,259 0.7 %28 11,219 0.7 %29 11,188 0.7 %30 10,549 0.7 %

22

: 04 2009: N.det.Extra Stores&Provisions 25

%

1,309,384 100 %1 249,282 19.0 %2 105,155 8.0 %3 97,584 7.5 %4 78,383 6.0 %5 54,242 4.1 %6 43,580 3.3 %7 42,352 3.2 %8 31,662 2.4 %9 31,509 2.4 %10 26,034 2.0 %11 26,114 2.0 %12 25,634 2.0 %13 25,172 1.9 %14 25,135 1.9 %15 22,042 1.7 %16 21,958 1.7 %17 21,236 1.6 %18 21,066 1.6 %19 20,217 1.5 %20 15,302 1.2 %21 N. det. Extra 14,562 1.1 %22 14,403 1.1 %23 14,317 1.1 %24 14,063 1.1 %25 Stores and Prov. 13,187 1.0 %26 12,711 1.0 %27 11,629 0.9 %28 11,542 0.9 %29 11,360 0.9 %30 11,203 0.9 %

%

2,859,971 100 %1 435,560 15.2 %2 326,011 11.4 %3 278,369 9.7 %4 177,610 6.2 %5 135,504 4.7 %6 117,065 4.1 %7 100,122 3.5 %8 65,018 2.3 %9 61,765 2.2 %10 60,890 2.1 %11 49,886 1.7 %12 43,843 1.5 %13 42,376 1.5 %14 42,347 1.5 %15 39,880 1.4 %16 39,435 1.4 %17 38,131 1.3 %18 37,483 1.3 %19 36,391 1.3 %20 35,848 1.3 %21 35,688 1.2 %22 32,485 1.1 %23 29,071 1.0 %24 26,589 0.9 %25 25,616 0.9 %26 25,535 0.9 %27 25,251 0.9 %28 23,483 0.8 %29 22,932 0.8 %30 22,760 0.8 %

22

27

23

1.4

7%

50% 45%

2001

1 : 1990-2008

4 :(2008, )

325 116 64 60 35

78 42 25 31 11

247 74 39 29 24

-169 -32 -14 +2 -13

31 % 56 % 64 % 106 % 45 %

1990-2008( )- : Taiwan Customs Statistics – 2007 27

50454035302520151050

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

24

130 140

85%

2000 2007

15% 2008

2:

3:

( )- :

140

120

100

80

60

40

20

0

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

(2008)

, 23.66%

, 2.37%

, 2.48%

,3.26%

, 3.33%

, 4.41%

, 9.37% , 11.51%

, 12.91%

, 26.7%

25

1.5

17%

3%

70%

2008 27 15

15%

5: 2008

2007 2007

7478 5730 12047 2043 1748 20432356 4565 7091 -1565 -2209 -15651917 3630 5420 -1642 -1713 -16421635 2449 4061 693 -814 6932292 1730 3866 -928 562 -928482 1859 1987 -1095 -1377 -1095592 1181 1665 -577 -589 -577501 945 1498 -236 -444 -236553 706 1100 -58 -153 -58480 467 1080 104 13 10491 557 867 -731 -466 -73192 715 855 -677 -623 -677384 309 814 -18 75 -18230 488 806 -356 -258 -35636 437 573 -461 -401 -46140 548 459 -375 -508 -375104 482 434 -228 -378 -22891 276 317 -193 -185 -19349 5 289 201 44 20110 133 202 -68 -123 -6838 42 186 -32 -4 -3267 146 173 -89 79 -8941 105 141 -95 -64 -9512 136 141 -119 -124 -11924 144 111 -67 -120 -6710 126 106 -92 -116 -9229 90 88 -56 -61 -56

2008 2002

26

4: 27

5: (2008)

2008

4.66

1.04 1,300

27 – – 2008 –

:

12000

8000

4000

0

(2008)

14%

3%

2%

3%

4%

5%

8% 8%11%

14%

28%

27

1.6

2008 28%

97% 1000%

2008

21% DRAM 10%

2008

2007 3.5 29.72

2008 108.83 11.4% 45.3%

57%

2007 2.08

12.63

2007 14.57 26.03

2007

4%

2% 1.5%

2%

2% 1%

LCD2008 21%

28

6:2009

15 24,044 1.55 100.0

89 102 0.09 0.4

48 450 0.10 1.9

11 167 0.14 0.7

6 10,883 6.41 45.3

14 1,996 1.83 8.3

10 1,676 1.75 7.0

17 884 0.72 3.7

25 461 0.57 1.9

17 801 1.87 3.3

28 11,625 0.89 100.0

32 604 0.77 5.2

61 55 0.07 0.5

13 135 0.07 1.2

19 1,263 1.55 10.9

24 2,603 1.00 22.4

43 741 0.39 6.4

24 2,066 1.03 17.8

32 195 0.56 1.7

30 329 0.79 2.8

27

29

2.1

2007 2008

2008 26.35 35.23

16% 4.7%

2008 2007 75%

79 19.4

2008 ,

6: 2004

2

2004

14,000

12,000

10,000

8,000

6,000

4,000

2,000

02004 2005 2006 2007

30

2.2 :

2009 5 2008 27 28% 2007

4,960 2008 3,540 57%

4,000 1,730

27 2007 1,940 2008

450

140 180 20

70

2008

2008

2008

31

3.1

1,143 199060 40% 457

57

ECCT700 472 2007 10%

12%

16 2003

2008 147,64699,548 48,098

30

3.2

2008 23% 218,411

2009

7:

3

350000

300000

250000

200000

1500001997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

216323 234040 240406 266428 251366 259007 209770 270928 298012 331913 282426 218411

32

3.3

2008 2001 37,800

1998

2001

2003 2007

2008

2007 18%

8

2009

Erasmus Mundus

2005 60

7:, 2008

25000

20000

15000

10000

5000

0

19931994

19951996

19971998

19992000

20012002

20032004

20052006

20072008

Suite 1603, 16F, 333, Keelung Road section 1, Taipei 110333 16 1603

Tel: +886 2 2757 7211 Fax: +886 2 2757 7209 E-mail: admin-taiwan@ec.europa.eu

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