STATISTICS SHOW GROWTH IN TAIWAN'S MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY: DGBAS.

TAIPEI, May 1 Asia Pulse - The total production value of Taiwan companies rose by 47.8 per cent to NT$24.19 trillion (US$794.7 billion) in 2006 compared with 2001, but the growth of the average annual wage slowed to 7.1 per cent over the same period, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said Wednesday.

The official assessment of Taiwan's manufacturing and service sectors, held once every five years, compared the statistics for 2006 with the figures for 2001.

"Despite the exodus of local manufacturers in the past decade, data shows a revival of Taiwan's industry productivity, especially in manufacturing where production value increased from 2001 by 60 per cent to NT$15.55 trillion in 2007, " said Huang Jiann-jong, deputy director of the Bureau of Census under the DGBAS.

He attributed the strong performance to the soaring output of semiconductor and optics makers, which together accounted for production value of NT1.5 trillion in 2006.

Employment in the manufacturing sector also rose by 12.9 per cent to 7.52 million employees in 2006, as a result of an 18.2 per cent increase in the number of Taiwan companies to 1.1 million, Huang added.

However, the strong showing in the manufacturing sector was overshadowed by the slow growth of the average annual wage, which reached ...