The four East Asian countries and regions -- Japan, China's Taiwan, South Korea and the Chinese mainland -- have been sparing no efforts to develop their information and communications industries since the late 1990s when a revolution in information and communications centered on the computer occurred, the report by a local economic and planning development body said.

Since August 2000, Taiwan has been making efforts in various areas, such as infrastructure, manpower supply and governmental administration, to build an environment for a "knowledge-based economy" on the island as part of Taiwan's preparations for future economic development in the era of the "new economy" in which the information and communications sectors will serve as one of the key pillars.

The report said that in the information and communications technological race among Taiwan and its neighbors, the winner will be the one that produces the most high value-added high-technology goods.

However, the growth of Taiwan's information and communications output has been slowing in recent years as the island faces strong competition from the Chinese mainland and India, whose production costs are relatively low and whose technological growth rates are high, said the report.

(Xinhua News Agency August 15, 2005)