Recession closes 7,000 SMEs in Taiwan

Taipei, Nov 10 (DPA) More than 7,000 small and medium enterprises (SMEs)have shut down in Taiwan in the past two years due to recession, a government agency said Monday.

'At the end of 2006, there were 1.23 million SMEs enterprises in Taiwan. By the end of 2007, the number had dropped by more than 7,000,' Lin Ping-pin, secretary-general of the National Association for Small and Medium Enterprises, said at a conference for smalland medium enterprises, which is held every third year.

'But in the same period, large corporations increased by 1,600. So SMEs are facing severe challenges and need government assistance,' he said.

At the conference, Economics Minister Yin Chii-ming said the government has increased loans to SMEs to tide them over the global financial crisis.

Taiwan has few national resources, so its economy depends mainly on exports, and the SMEs enterprises have played a vital part in the island's export-oriented industries.