TAIPEI (Reuters) -Taiwan’s economy could grow more than 3% next year given demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications continues at a rapid clip, Economic Affairs Minister Kung Ming-hsin said on Thursday, offering a rosier outlook than previous forecasts.

Last month, Taiwan’s central bank predicted the economy next year could expand 2.68%, down from an estimated 4.55% for this year, citing the impact of U.S. tariffs on Taiwanese exports, currently set at 20%.

Speaking to reporters in Taipei, Kung said he was “quite optimistic” that growth next year could top 3% given the fast growth of AI.

Taiwan is a major semiconductor producer and home to the world’s largest contract chipmaker TSMC, which supplies Nvidia and other companies powering the charge towards AI.

Taiwan’s statistic

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