COUNTRY OVERVIEW
President: Chen Shui-bian (since May 2000)
Population (7/02E): 22.5 million, heavily concentrated along the west coast
Area: 14,000 square miles (slightly larger than Maryland and Delaware combined)
Major Cities: Taipei (Capital), Kaohsiung, Taichung, Tainan
Major Religions: Mixture of Buddhist, Confucian, and Taoist 93%, Christian 4.5%, other 2.5%
Languages: Mandarin (official), Taiwanese (Min), Hakka Chinese dialects
Ethnic Groups: Taiwanese, 84%; mainland Chinese, 14%; aborigine, 2%
Armed Forces (8/98): Army, 240,000; Air Force, 68,000; Navy, 68,000

ECONOMIC OVERVIEW
Currency: New Taiwan Dollar (NT$)
Exchange Rate (4/29/03): US$1 = NT$35.1
Gross Domestic Product (2002E): $282 billion
Real GDP Growth Rate (2002E): 3.5% (2003F): 3.8%
Inflation Rate (consumer prices, 2002E): -0.2% (2003F): 0.4%
Unemployment Rate (2002E): 5.2%
Total Reserves, Non-Gold (2002E): $161.7 billion
Current Account Balance (2002E): $25.7 billion
Merchandise Exports (2002E): $129.9 billion
Merchandise Imports (2002E): $105.2 billion
Merchandise Trade Surplus (2002E): $24.7 billion
Major Exports: Consumer electrionics, machinery, chemicals & allied products, iron & steel, plastics
Major Imports: Crude oil, capital goods, consumer goods, agricultural and industrial raw materials
Major Trading Partners: United States, Japan, Europe, Hong Kong (China)

ENERGY OVERVIEW
Minister of Economic Affairs: Lin Hsin-i
Proven Oil Reserves (1/1/02E): 4 million barrels
Oil Production (2002E): 3,300 barrels per day (bbl/d), of which 800 bbl/d is crude oil
Oil Consumption (2002E): 985,000 bbl/d
Net Oil Imports (2002E): 982,700 bbl/d
Crude Oil Refining Capacity (1/1/02E): 1,220,000 bbl/d
Natural Gas Reserves (1/1/02E): 2.7 trillion cubic feet (Tcf)
Natural Gas Production (2001E): 26 Billion cubic feet (Bcf)
Natural Gas Consumption (2001E): 234 Bcf
Natural Gas Imports (2001E): 208 Bcf
Coal Reserves (12/31/96): 1.1 million short tons (Mmst) (active coal production ceased in 2000)
Coal Consumption (2001E): 52.9 Mmst
Net Coal Imports (2001E): 52.9 Mmst
Electric Generating Capacity (1/1/01E): 30 gigawatts
Electricity Generation (2001E): 151 billion kilowatthours

ENVIRONMENTAL OVERVIEW
Total Energy Consumption (2001E): 4.1 quadrillion Btu* (1.0% of world total energy consumption)
Energy-Related Carbon Emissions (2001E): 68.9 million metric tons of carbon (1.1% of world total carbon emissions)
Per Capita Energy Consumption (2001E): 181.5 million Btu (vs. U.S. value of 341.8 million Btu)**
Per Capita Carbon Emissions (2001E): 3.2 metric tons of carbon (vs. U.S. value of 5.5 metric tons of carbon)
Energy Intensity (2001E): 12,229 Btu/$1995 (vs U.S. value of 10,736 Btu/$1995)**
Carbon Intensity (2001E): 0.21 metric tons of carbon/thousand $1995 (vs U.S. value of 0.17 metric tons/thousand $1995)**
Fuel Share of Energy Consumption (2001E): Oil (51.4%), Coal (32.2%), Natural Gas (5.8%)
Fuel Share of Carbon Emissions (2001E): Oil (48.7%), Coal (46.5%), Natural Gas (4.7%)
Renewable Energy Consumption (1998E): 110 trillion Btu* (10% increase from 1997)
Major Environmental Issues: Air pollution; water pollution from industrial emissions, raw sewage; contamination of drinking water supplies; trade in endangered species; low-level radioactive waste disposal.
Major International Environmental Agreements: Taiwan is not a party to any of the selected agreements.

* The total energy consumption statistic includes petroleum, dry natural gas, coal, net hydro, nuclear, geothermal, solar and wind electric power. The renewable energy consumption statistic is based on International Energy Agency (IEA) data and includes hydropower, solar, wind, tide, geothermal, solid biomass and animal products, biomass gas and liquids, industrial and municipal wastes. Sectoral shares of energy consumption and carbon emissions are also based on IEA data.

**GDP based on EIA International Energy Annual 2001

ENERGY INDUSTRY
State Energy Companies: Chinese Petroleum Company (CPC), Taiwan Power (Taipower)
Oil Refineries (1/1/03 capacity): Kaohsiung (270,000 bbl/d), Ta-Lin (300,000 bbl/d), Taoyuan (200,000 bbl/d); Mailiao (450,000 bbl/d)
Major Ports: Kaohsiung, Keelong, Hwalien, Taichung, Suao
LNG Terminal: Yungan

Sources for this report include: Asian Wall Street Journal; CIA World Factbook 2002; Dow Jones News Wire service; Economist Intelligence Unit ViewsWire; GlobalInsight Asia Economic Outlook; Oil & Gas Journal; Petroleum Intelligence Weekly; Platt's Oilgram News; Reuters News Wire; U.S. Energy Information Administration; U.S. Department of State.