TAIPEI, Taiwan, Dec. 19 (UPI) -- Taiwan fell significantly behind South Korea in certain economic indicators during the last decade due to government decisions, a professor said Saturday.
Chu Yun-peng of Taiwan's National Central University said a study of export figures shows while Taiwan enjoyed higher exports than South Korea as of 1993, a decade worth of questionable decisions by the government allowed South Korea to bypass Taiwan, Taiwan's Central News Agency reported Saturday.
The professor from the university's economics department said Taiwan exported a total of $16.95 billion in goods in June while South Korea enjoyed exports totaling $33 billion.
Chu also used a forum on Taiwan and South Korea Saturday to detail how South Korea bypassed Taiwan in terms of wages in the manufacturing sector.
The former government official said Taiwan's average manufacturing sector wage as of 2007 was $8.20 an hour compared with the $18.40 per hour average wage enjoyed by manufacturing workers in South Korea.
The Central News Agency said Taiwan is a supporter of the proposed Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement that could improve economic and trade cooperation between China and Taiwan.
