Business sentiment in the local manufacturing sector last month improved as many export-oriented companies continued to receive a boost from robust global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications, the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER) said today.The composite index of the manufacturing sector, which gauges business sentiment among local manufacturers, last month rose 2.48 points from a month earlier to 101.09, its highest level in more than four years, data compiled by TIER showed.Meanwhile, the composite index for the service sector fell 1.29 points from June to 98.20 last month, ending a four-month streak of increases, while the composite index for the construction industry rose 2.96 to 110.55, marking the fourth straight month of growth, the data showed.
Turvo International Co employees work on the auto-parts maker’s production lines in Taichung on Sept. 18, 2024.
Taiwanese tech firms continued to benefit from AI and high-performance computing development, and saw their clients build up inventories ahead of the debut of their new gadgets, with semiconductor suppliers as the major beneficiaries, TIER said.The global AI industry tends to unveil new products every 12 or 18 months, so Taiwan could continue to ride the waves of the current boom, said Gordon Sun (孫明德), director of TIER's Economic Forecasting Center.
