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Taipei, March 20 (CNA) The value of orders placed by foreign companies with local businesses in February hit US$28.9 billion, down by 10.9 percent from the same month of 2018, the Department of Statistics under the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) reported Wednesday.

The decrease, a drop of US$3.55 billion, was far bigger than a fall of between 1.4 percent and 4.5 percent previously estimated, the department said.

It was the fourth consecutive decline since November last year, when the growth rate started to swing into the red, the department said, attributing the fall to weaker global demand for smartphones.

In the first two months, the value of foreign orders placed with Taiwanese firms totaled US$69.39 billion, a fall of 8.1 percent, or a loss of US$6.13 billion compared with a year earlier, according to the department.

Looking to the future, the value of foreign orders is expected to rise in the coming months, given that the first quarter is traditionally a slow season in terms of product sales and because prices of international raw materials have shown signs of rebounding, it said.

Should the ongoing trade war between China and the United States be settled as scheduled, it will definitely give a boost to business sentiment across the globe and help stabilize the world economy, which will push foreign companies to place more orders with their Taiwanese counterparts, the department explained.

(By Liao Yu-yang and Flor Wang)
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