TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — After posting a decade-high 8.16 percent GDP growth in the first quarter of 2021, Taiwan will likely extend its export momentum even after the coronavirus pandemic subsides, according to Bloomberg.

On April 30, the Cabinet-level Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) released statistics showing that Taiwan's economy is growing at its fastest pace since the final quarter of 2010. It said the growth was fueled by high foreign demand as well as strong domestic investment and consumption.

Pointing to greater-than-expected investments in the semiconductor, memory, packaging, and petrochemical sectors, DGBAS official Wu Pei-shuan (吳佩璇) said exports in Q1 had risen 24.58 percent from the same period last year. She attributed the extraordinary jump to a warming global business climate and accelerated demand for electronic components during the pandemic.

In a phone interview with Bloomberg, DBS Bank senior economist Ma Tieying (馬鐵英) noted that Taiwan's economy has been mainly buoyed by its "near global monopoly" on semiconductor manufacturing. With the ongoing global chip shortage, the country has benefited from its strengths in the pure wafer foundry business, she explained.

Ma also said Taiwan is on track to record GDP growth of between 6 and 7 percent for 2021 if it maintains its current trajectory and if Western nations successfully reopen their economies.

Meanwhile, Bloomberg hinted at the possibility of Taiwan continuing its export boom in the post-pandemic era. The news agency believes that the restructuring of the global supply chains amid the U.S.-China trade war will likely work in the country's favor in a big way.