Taiwan's traditional manufacturing industries look set for a boost following the unveiling of a Ministry of Economic Affairs value-added and business transformation program. Chou Neng-chuan, deputy director-general of the MOEA's Industrial Development Bureau, made the announcement on Tuesday during a ceremony celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Taiwan Food Good Manufacturing Practice Development Association. Chou said the ministry has allocated about NT$3.2 billion (US$97.2 million) over the next five years to the Information and Communication Technology Application Value-Added Project in the Traditional Manufacturing Sector. The IDB initiative is set to kick off in the second half of this year. Targeting Taiwan's four traditional manufacturing industries including the food sector, the scheme is expected to assist businesses to upgrade and transform their operations. According to Chou, adding value to the targeted industries and expanding their overseas markets is the program's ultimate goal. IDB Director-General Woody Duh and TFGMPA Chairman Yang Kun-hsiang stressed the importance of expanding overseas markets for Taiwan's food sector. Yang said his association is also contemplating the possibility of promoting the nation's good manufacturing practice certification system on the mainland. This would be accomplished through the offices of a similar entity established on the other side of the strait. Chou said China is an important market for Taiwan-based companies in the food sector. Meanwhile, statistics from the Ministry of Economic Affairs showed that May's export orders hit a seven-month high of US$25.17 billion despite falling 20.14 percent year-on-year. In a breakdown of products, export orders for electronics in May dropped 11.33 percent from the corresponding period last year and those for information and communication technology devices skidded 11.9 percent. Both segments experienced narrower declines. Export orders for precision instruments plunged 33.13 percent, those for machinery tumbled 44 percent and chemicals sank 32.88 percent, as the Chinese mainland economy has yet to fully recover. Geographically, the mainland and Hong Kong together accounted for 28.1 percent of export orders received by Taiwan enterprises, constituting the largest source for the island. However, May orders from the area slipped 17.65 percent compared to a year ago, widening from a 14.3-percent retreat in April. May orders from the United States contracted 17.35 percent, better than the 22-percent drop a month ago. As for orders from Europe, the decline worsened to 28.01 percent in May against 20.33 percent in April. Among enterprises surveyed by the MOEA, 23.35 percent of the respondents anticipated export orders in June to increase from May. Some 50.12 percent of them saw a flat development while 26.53 percent of the respondents pointed to a decrease. Huang Ji-shih, director-general of the Department of Statistics under the MOEA, expected steady growth for export orders in June. He sees month-on-month improvement as well as quarter-on
