What pandemic?
While most of the global economy is still reeling, damage to the hospitality and tourism sectors in parts of Asia has been offset by swelling demand for technology goods, according to economic researchers at JPMorgan. That surge is particularly powerful in Taiwan, where manufacturing production is almost a mirror image of the US.
The country’s economy is benefiting from the demand for technology that powers 5G servers and artificial intelligence, and it’s been turbocharged by home-schooling and work-from-home trends around the world. Taiwan’s GDP will grow 1% this year, according to JPMorgan, one of the very few economies that’s expected to expand. The US and German economies are forecast to shrink more than 4%, while those of France and the UK may contract more than 8%.
“Taiwan stands out for its scant evidence that a global pandemic has even occurred,” JPMorgan’s economists wrote.