Live on Bloomberg TV

00:00So obviously, these are local elections and someone could lose watching from overseas is that while the KMT is back, it doesn't necessarily mean that the overall desire of most Taiwanese people for the status quo has changed. How do you read the political winds essentially that way that this is a democratic process playing out? These were first and foremost local elections where it failed two years off from the national ones. So what it really brings back to us is the grounds that the American chamber is so bullish about this market. Go back to the enduring strengths. This is a vigorous democracy. We saw that played out very well just over the weekend. So a strong signal, I think, for the big picture stability. How do you rate the economy right now through the pandemic? The Taiwanese economy was kind of isolated, but also was doing fairly well. The integrated circuit and chip industry was doing fairly well. But now we're seeing some export weakness. The export order weakness, we've seeing some rising inflation is the rest of the world has seen it. And that kind of played out in this local election. Do you see that being a headwind as well going forward towards that presidential election? Oh, certainly see headwinds there out there in a big way coming off of a rather rosy scenario that Taiwan confronted over the last couple of years. We are at record highs of optimism right now. I'd characterize our members and we represent if the American Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan, 560 members growing double digits over the last two years. I would add we're bullish on the economy. I would say prudently bullish. And I think that's reflective of the wider international business community and a good chunk of the Taiwan business community as well. And there are a few reasons why we think that's that's that's the case. Give me a bullet point. What are the what are the biggest issues there? Sure. Well, first of all, we start with the enduring strengths which aren't going anywhere. We talked about democracy is one of them. But this is a wonderful business climate, great rule of law, protection of intellectual property, all of the fundamentals that we experienced were familiar with. In addition, setting Taiwan apart, as you mentioned, Steve, we're not open for business, not October 13th in a big way, reconnecting Taiwan just at the most important time. And the response has been good business people. Travelers are coming back here to see what's happening on the ground and to pursue trade and investment options. Most importantly is this is a place we talk a lot about building resilience. I think Taiwan often defines resilience. And in this turbulent time, I think we're just on the cusp of a spurt of industrial transformation, of diversification out of Taiwan. That's really a positive for the world. Well, what are you hearing as far as that transformation? Because that transformation could also be clarified as a bifurcation of the tech world. And there are some mandates that these Taiwanese companies in the tech supply chain might have to make that difficult choice, China and the United States. We're already seeing on shoring of some TSMC factories back to the United States. How big of issue is this going to be with this export controls on chip and chip equipment? A significant issue. It's very new to us. Of course, it was just October 7th that the Commerce Department unveiled some of the new technology controls. This is part of a longer trend, though, that the supply chain that Taiwan industry, that time government has been observing going back for years to the frictions that began with the tariffs. So it's been some time to adjust to it. But I would maintain that Taiwan is very well-placed in this time of tumult to adjust because of the technology that it has. The completeness of the supply chains are mid downstream, that it has the kind of clusters that it is developed. So the whole world has been thrown on its ear by this disruption. But Taiwan is uniquely well-placed to to benefit and to contribute. And it also gives a kick on this industrial towards transformation that has been out of way, under way to move away from the contract manufacturing model, to move upstream, to diversify Taiwan's economy, but also move into higher value added new models, if you will, of production and wealth. And we'll have to see what's going to take to get the ball across the goal line on the FTA with the United States or even any other FTA with other countries. Andrew, we've run out of time. Always good to talk to you. Let's do it again. Ahead of the presidential election in early part of 2012, we've got our business climate statement coming out. So please come back.

No schedule data available.

AmCham Taiwan President on Business Sentiment

Andrew Wylegala, President at AmCham Taiwan, discusses the island's business sentiment and economic outlook. He speaks with Stephen Engle on "Bloomberg Markets Asia". (Source: Bloomberg)

More From Bloomberg Markets
All episodes and clips

The David Rubenstein Show
The David Rubenstein Show: Peer-to-Peer Conversations" explores successful leadership through the personal and professional choices of the most influential people in business.
More episodes and clips