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Taiwan's Software Industry Projects Capital Spending of NT$200 B. for 2006(Taiwan Economic News Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)Taipei, April 7, 2006 (CENS)--The capital expenditures of Taiwan's computer software industry this year are estimated to reach NT$200 billion (US$5.88 billion at US$1 = NT$34), a projected 10% rise over last year's NT$180.2 billion (US$5.3 billion), according to statistics released by the Cabinet-level Council for Economic Planning & Development (CEPD). CEPD's statistics also showed that Taiwan's software industry witnessed an average annual growth rate for expenditures of 17% for the years ranging from 1996 to 2005 A ranking official at CEPD analyzed that the expanding capitalization of the information technology (IT) and telecommunication industries has helped to propel the island's economy. In 1996, private investment in Taiwan's software industry accounted for merely 3.96% of the total private investment for the year. Nevertheless, the percentage has gradually gone up, and hit 10.54% in 2001. Last year, the percentage increased to 11.75% The official further indicated that previously, Taiwan's private investment was targeted at capital equipment as machinery and basic facilities. However, with the coming of the knowledge-based economy, Taiwan's private investment has increasingly been funneled into the software industry. This can be seen in the ratio of investment in computer software against that in machinery and related equipment; in 1996, the ratio was 6.93%, while in it was 20.07% in 2005, a jump of 13.14 percentage points In addition, the software industry's average annual rise of 17% in spending during the period of 1996-2005 was 3.8 times the island's average annual economic growth during the same period. |