Forward-looking‧Professional‧International 
April 2018  
Taiwan's Q1 performance in external market better than expected
TIER adjusts its forecast for Taiwan's GDP growth accordingly
Contributed by the positive recovery of US economy and European Union, the global economic outlook remains optimistic; however, the outlook can be offset by potential uncertainties such as the trade conflict between Washington and Beijing. Despite of all that, Taiwan's Q1 performance in its external market was surprisingly better than expected thanks to strong world demands in new technology and machinery equipment. As a result, the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER) adjusts its annual GDP forecast upward. Taiwan's GDP is predicted to grow by 2.45% this year. It would be 0.11 percentage points higher than TIER's previous forecast.
Taiwan's exports in March 2018 increased significantly by 16.72% compared with the same month of 2017. Regarding imports, Taiwan's imports in March 2018 increased by 10.44% compared with imports in March 2017. Exports and imports grew by 10.62% and 11.0% y-o-y respectively from January 1st till the end of March this year, Taiwan's exports and imports gave a trade surplus of US$ 1.18 billion or an increase by 8.51% on a y-o-y basis during the entire year.
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Taiwan AI Academy hosts first graduation
The nation’s first artificial intelligence (AI) academy had its first-semester graduation ceremony at Academia Sinica in Taipei on April 28, where MediaTek Inc and other businesses were eager to hunt talent. The Taiwan AI Academy, which opened its doors on Jan. 27, offers two courses: a skills training program and a weekend program for business managers, which admitted 210 and 320 students respectively, mainly from the electronics, information and manufacturing sectors. Over the past three months, academy members were trained in information-packed courses that involved statistics, algorithms, deep-learning theories and project presentation, academy chief executive officer Chen Sheng-wei said. (Source: Taipei Times)

A Better Tomorrow - New Prospects for Green Factories (Source: MOEA)
Taiwan Economic Research Monthly
Report on Taiwan's renewable energy and green finance promotion
Certification System for Renewable Resources in Taiwan: Current Progress and Suggestions for Future Development
Many major countries have already established renewable resource certification and management systems, providing certificates to companies allowing them to use renewable resources. As an important link in the global supply chain, Taiwan is deeply influenced by global trends, and is facing pressing demand on its own renewable resources. As a result, setting up a certification system has become an important policy tool for promoting the national development of renewable resources in Taiwan. Aside from the need to adapt to the standards and requirements of the international market, management authorities must actively conduct exchanges with the relevant international bodies, while at the same time continuing to optimize domestic management platforms and carry out cross-departmental dialogue to increase the usability of certificates in relevant environmental management and evaluation systems.
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