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Through nearly five decades of hard work and sound economic management, Taiwan has transformed itself from an underdeveloped, agricultural island to an economic power that is a leading producer of high-technology goods. In the 1960s, foreign investment in Taiwan helped introduce modern, labor-intensive technology to the island, and Taiwan became a major exporter of labor-intensive products. In the 1980s, focus shifted toward increasingly sophisticated, capital-intensive and technology-intensive products for export and toward developing the service sector. At the same time, the appreciation of the New Taiwan dollar (NT$), rising labor costs, and increasing environmental consciousness in Taiwan caused many labor-intensive industries, such as shoe manufacturing, to move to the Chinese mainland and Southeast Asia. Taiwan has transformed itself from a recipient of U.S. aid in the 1950s and early 1960s to an aid donor and major foreign investor, especially in Asia. Taiwan is now a creditor economy, holding one of the world's largest foreign exchange reserves of nearly $200 billion as of late 2003. Although Taiwan enjoyed sustained economic growth, full employment, and low inflation for many years, in 2001 the combination of the slowing global economy, weaknesses in parts of the financial sector, and sagging consumer and business confidence in the government's economic policymaking resulted in the the first recession since 1952.The economy began to recover in 2002 but was slowed briefly again by the outbreak of SARS in early 2003. Growth for 2003 was 3.2% and the outlook for 2004 is more positive, with almost all private growth forecasts between 5%-6%.
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