In the nearly year-long absence of international travelers, Taipei’s hotels have begun shifting some of their focus to their food and beverage business, offering attractive package deals and coming up with new, delicious ways to draw in the island’s domestic travelers. As international travel to Taiwan ground to a complete halt last spring following the…
COVID-19 has brought a spike in global demand for various types of information and communication technology – both in terms of goods and services. As a result, Taiwan has been among the few countries to have maintained a positive economic growth rate despite the pandemic. However, some of this demand is likely to be a…
DBS economist Ma Tieying takes the most bullish view of Taiwan’s economic prospects for 2021, forecasting GDP growth of 4.2%. The most cautious position among those interviewed for this report was from Yuanta-Polaris Research Institute President Liang Kuo-yuan, whose forecast is “at least 3%.” In between is the government’s own statistics agency, which expects growth…
Taiwan has been a major beneficiary of global circumstances in 2020. It must now take steps to maintain economic momentum as a new year approaches. Despite a devastating pandemic that the International Monetary Fund predicts will shrink the world economy by 4.4% this year, Taiwan proved itself to be a global economic star. It was one…
Taiwan has emerged this year as a shining example of pandemic management, with less than 600 reported cases since the onset of COVID-19 in January. The systems and protocols that Taiwan’s hospitals already had in place from its experience combating the SARS epidemic in 2003 were one of the main factors contributing to the island’s…
E-learning startups cater to rising demand for online self-learning among individuals. These firms can support the public sector and businesses, too. Taiwan has controlled the coronavirus pandemic so well that its K-12 schools have been able to maintain classroom instruction. The only interruption to school came in February, when the government delayed the start of…
Aside from the large medical centers that enjoy significant economies of scale, many Taiwanese hospitals have been faced with financial difficulties due to rising costs. Many smaller hospitals have closed or merged, and the survivors have been looking for ways to cut expenses and increase revenues. The proportion of healthcare expenditures paid by patients out of…
The pandemic has hit the bottom lines of struggling schools reliant on foreign students. Yet Taiwan’s ability to contain the coronavirus is also making it a more attractive place to study. Taiwan has long had a surplus of universities, the legacy of well-intentioned if myopic education reforms in the 1990s. The island nation is home…
Taiwan’s status as a just and equitable country has been burnished by its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the reasons Taiwan has done so well in halting the spread of COVID-19 is the nation’s relative wealth equality. Experts say this factor contributed to the establishment of a universal healthcare system and has led…
Every year, tens of thousands of Taiwanese leave to pursue degree programs in the U.S. and elsewhere, but the pandemic is forcing them to make a tough choice this year: go ahead with their original plan, take courses online, or defer their studies altogether. Whether to stay in Taiwan where the COVID-19 pandemic has been…
