Taiwanese Firms' ICT Investments to Rise 5% This Year

Taipei, Feb. 24, 2011 (CENS)--Investments in information and communications technology (ITC) equipment and R & D projects made by large-sized enterprises are estimated to rise 5% to the pre-recession level of over NT$82.7 billion this year, according to findings of a survey of around 600 Taiwanese enterprises with 200 employees and above conducted by the Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute (MIC) under the Institute for Information Industry.

According to MIC, most of the polled enterprises are in the financial and manufacturing sectors and have shown increased willingness to raise their ICT budgets after the financial tsunami, as the signing of ECFA (Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement) between Taiwan and China and a global economic recovery have boosted their optimism about bright market prospects in the coming years.

There are also some other reasons motivating Taiwanese firms to spend more on ICT, indicated MIC. For example, Taiwan's service industry raises ICT spending because the significant improvement of cross-strait relations has enabled them to more easily access China's huge domestic market, while the manufacturing industry is also driven by growing global concerns about green supply chains and IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards).

MIC also pointed out that the financial sector will be a major contributor to Taiwan's overall ICT investment growth this year, due partly to the implementation of IFRS, and partly to the upgrades of computer hardware and software upgrades to achieve enhanced security of clients' personal information to meet the requirements set in related personal data protection acts. In addition, large-sized holding companies' business deployments in China will also fuel the growth of ICT spending. Overall, the industry's ICT investment is estimated to surge 7.2% to round NT$$30 billion this year from last year.

As to large-scale manufacturing companies, MIC's report shows that their total ICT investments are expected to slightly grow by 2.5% yearly to NT$4.76 billion this year, most of which will be poured into carbon emission improvements, e-management and knowledge and backup database construction.

MIC concluded that Taiwan's overall ICT investment will keep growing in the next few years despite economic uncertainty in Europe and the U.S., and the growth, however, is believed to moderate starting in 2013.