Taiwan`s manufacturers and traders received orders totaling US$25.17 billion in May of this year, up by US$100 million from a month earlier, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA).

Compared to the same month of last year, the order value tumbled by US$6.3 billion or 20.14%. In January of this year the export orders stood at US$17.67 billion, surging to US$20.12 billion in February, growing rapidly to US$23.94 billion in March and US$25.13 billion in April, and edging up to US$25.17 billion in May.

In May alone, the export orders received from Europe dropped an annual 28.01% in value and down by 10.49% from a month earlier, implying a gloomy business climate in Europe. Likewise, the orders from the United States dipped an annual 17.35%.

Influenced by the downturn, many countries have recently hesitated to launch investments. As a result, Taiwan witnessed a sizable annual fall of 44.23% and 33.13% in orders for machinery and basic metals & related products, respectively, in May; while orders for electronic products shrank by 11.33% and those for information technology (IT) and telecom products reduced by 11.9%.