![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/P01-260425-005.jpg\")
<\/p>\n BROAD-BASED GROWTH:
\n The institute\u2019s president said the upgrade was mainly due to AI-related technologies, which have boosted export and investment prospects <\/p>\n
By Crystal Hsu \/ Staff reporter<\/p>\n
Taiwan\u2019s economic outlook has brightened, despite mounting geopolitical risks, as robust demand for artificial intelligence (AI) drives exports and investment, the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, \u53f0\u7d93\u9662) said yesterday.<\/p>\n
The Taipei-based think tank raised its forecast for Taiwan\u2019s GDP growth to 7.56 percent this year, up from the 4.05 percent projected in January, after first-quarter exports and corporate earnings were better than expected.<\/p>\n
The upward revision comes even as the IMF and other global institutions have downgraded global growth forecasts amid escalating tensions in the Middle East.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Photo: Lin Chin-hua, Taipei Times<\/p>\n
\u201cThe upgrade is largely driven by AI-related technologies, which have boosted Taiwan\u2019s export and investment prospects,\u201d TIER president Chang Chien-yi (\u5f35\u5efa\u4e00) told a news conference.<\/p>\n
TIER said it expects exports to expand 15.74 percent this year, a significant increase from its previous estimate.<\/p>\n
Private investment and consumption are also projected to edge higher, supported in part by stock market gains, it said.<\/p>\n
The more upbeat outlook is reinforced by momentum in the semiconductor sector.<\/p>\n
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (\u53f0\u7a4d\u96fb), the world\u2019s largest contract chipmaker, on Thursday last week raised its revenue forecast for this year and signaled solid order visibility ahead.<\/p>\n
The positive guidance points to continued expansion across AI-related supply chains, including servers, memory and other components. That prompted TIER to sharply raise its export projections, particularly for the second half of the year, Chang said.<\/p>\n
Taiwan\u2019s growth is also becoming more broad-based. In addition to advanced semiconductors, demand for memory chips and related equipment is increasing, benefiting a wider range of suppliers rather than a single company.<\/p>\n
Still, risks remain.<\/p>\n
A prolonged conflict in the Middle East could fuel inflation and weigh on global growth, TIER said.<\/p>\n
TIER economist Gordon Sun (\u5b6b\u660e\u5fb7) said that a short-lived conflict would have limited impact, but one lasting several months could raise the risk of \u201cstagflation\u201d in the US \u2014 a combination of rising prices and slowing growth.<\/p>\n
Such a scenario could weaken US consumer spending and prompt major technology firms to scale back investment, slowing the pace of AI development and adoption, Sun said.<\/p>\n
Business sentiment was mixed last month, TIER said.<\/p>\n
Manufacturers grew more cautious about the next six months, with the business climate index slipping 0.89 points to 95.95, as Middle East tensions weighed on sentiment, it said.<\/p>\n
However, most firms expect conditions to remain broadly stable, with concerns centered on geopolitical risks and potential oil price volatility rather than a fundamental demand slowdown, it said.<\/p>\n
In contrast, sentiment in the service sector improved, with the index rising to 97.5, supported mainly by gains in the financial and insurance industries, it said.<\/p>\n
However, the construction sector remained under pressure.<\/p>\n
Its business climate index fell 5.26 points to 91.19, marking a third consecutive monthly decline, as rising energy costs weighed on the industry, TIER said.<\/p>\n
Prospective home buyers have largely stayed on the sidelines, anticipating a possible easing of property market curbs, it added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BROAD-BASED GROWTH: The institute\u2019s president said the upgrade was mainly due to AI-related technologies, which have boosted export…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":630017,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[64,63,99,164,28604,28603],"class_list":{"0":"post-630016","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-business","11":"tag-economy","12":"tag-the-taipei-times","13":"tag-28603"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=630016"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630016\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/630017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=630016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=630016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=630016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}