Taiwan investment in EU grows 650% over decade amid closer trade ties

Taipei, Feb. 25 (CNA) Taiwan's investment in the European Union (EU) has surged 650% over the past decade as trade ties between the two economies continue to strengthen, according to data from Taiwan's International Trade Administration (ITA).

From 2016 to 2025, Taiwan's total investment in the EU reached about US$13.88 billion, compared with US$1.85 billion from 2006 to 2015, representing an increase of approximately 650 percent, the data show.

The EU is Taiwan's fourth-largest trading partner, with bilateral trade totaling more than US$68.64 billion in 2024, and it is also Taiwan's largest source of foreign investment.

EU-Taiwan trade rose sharply in 2021, the year after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, reaching US$68.76 billion, up 32.51 percent from 2020, Hsu Li-mei (許莉美), head of the economic division at the Taipei Representative Office in the EU and Belgium, told CNA.

Taiwan's investment in the EU had previously been relatively limited, with Taiwanese businesses mainly concentrating funds in China and Southeast Asia, she said.

After the pandemic, however, companies began exploring other markets due to supply chain diversification, risk dispersion and global deployment, Hsu explained.

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the two sides had gradually established multiple economic and trade cooperation platforms, Hsu said.

Post-pandemic cooperation has become closer in both content and level of interaction, and its scope has continued to expand, she said.

Officials from EU directorates-general have increased visits to Taiwan in recent years and, after visiting, "became clearer about Taiwan's industrial strength and technological development, therefore found more cooperation possibilities, and attitudes also became more open," Hsu said.