an Institute in
Taiwan (AIT), which has its headquarters in Rosslyn, Virginia
offices in Taipei at #7 Lane 134, Hsin Yi Road, Section 3, telephone
International Trade Building, Taipei World Trade Center, 333 Keelung

Flag description: red with a dark blue rectangle in the upper
hoist-side corner bearing a white sun with 12 triangular rays

Economy

Economy--overview: Taiwan has a dynamic capitalist economy with
gradually decreasing guidance of investment and foreign trade by
government authorities and partial government ownership of some
large banks and industrial firms. Real growth in GDP has averaged
about 8.5% a year during the past three decades. Export growth has
been even faster and has provided the impetus for industrialization.
Inflation and unemployment are low, and foreign reserves are the
world's third largest. Agriculture contributes less than 3% to GDP,
down from 35% in 1952. Traditional labor-intensive industries are
steadily being moved off-shore and replaced with more capital- and
technology-intensive industries. Taiwan has become a major investor
in China, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, and
Vietnam. The tightening of labor markets has led to an influx of
foreign workers, both legal and illegal. Because of its conservative
financial approach and its entrepreneurial strengths, Taiwan
suffered little compared with many of its neighbors from "the Asian
flu" in 1998.

GDP: purchasing power parity--$362 billion (1998 est.)

GDP--real growth rate: 4.8% (1998 est.)

GDP--per capita: purchasing power parity?$16,500 (1998 est.)

GDP--composition by sector:
agriculture: 2.7%
industry: 35.3%
services: 62% (1997)

Population below poverty line: NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.1% (1998)

Labor force: 9.4 million (1997)

Labor force--by occupation: services 52%, industry 38%,
agriculture 10% (1996)

Unemployment rate: 2.7% (1998)

Budget:
revenues: $40 billion
expenditures: $55 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA
(1998 est.)

Industries: electronics, textiles, chemicals, clothing, food
processing, plywood, sugar milling, cement, shipbuilding, petroleum
refining

Industrial production growth rate: 7% (1997)

Electricity--production: 134.906 billion kWh (1996)

Electricity--production by source:
f