An Overview Of Policy Priorities For Industrial Development In Taiwan

Taiwan's industrial development policies can be decomposed into three periods over the past four decades. The first is the period before 1980 when industrial policy gradually shifted from import substitution to export expansion; the next period is in the 1980s, when various government policies were introduced to encourage accumulation of capital and to enhance R&D efforts; and the most recent period is the 1990s, when special targeted industrial development programs have been introduced to strengthen Taiwan's overall industrial competitiveness in the world market. This paper examines and explains the evolution of these policy changes.