Number of SMEs at new high last year: ministryStaff writer, with CNAThe number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Taiwan hit a new high last year, up 3.03 percent to 1.596 million from a year earlier, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a white paper on Friday. SMEs are defined as companies with paid-in capital of no more than NT$100 million (US$3.1 million) or fewer than 200 regular employees. The companies accounted for 98.92 percent of Taiwan’s total 1.613 million enterprises last year, the ministry said. About 80 percent of SMEs were in the service sector, with 46.18 percent in the wholesale or retail businesses, the white paper said. The number of SMEs owned by women was 586,304, or 37.16 percent of the total, it said.
