Taiwan expects its external trade to return to pre-crisis levels before the end of 2010 due to the gradual recovery of China and the United States from the global downturn, reports said on Sunday. The forecast, released by the Bureau of Foreign Trade, was based on the healthy results for the three months to December, during which exports grew 19.7 percent and imports surged 23 percent year-on-year, the Commercial Times said.
The pick-up of exports was largely made possible by strong demand from China and the United States, the two leading overseas markets for export-reliant Taiwan, it said. The export sector was forecast to rise 19.9 percent and imports to grow 23.3 percent.
But the forecast also warned of elements that may have a negative impact on Taiwan's foreign trade, including an increase in oil prices and inflationary pressure that has prompted some countries to start tightening credit. In February, Taiwan's exports to China and Hong Kong, which together form the island's leading export market, grew 31.8 percent from a year earlier to 6.62 billion US dollars, while sales to the US rose 23.3 percent to 1.89 billion dollars.