Before the 1980s, foreign companies came to Taiwan to set up factories for production. But as production costs rose in Taiwan, they could no longer afford their own factories here, so they shifted over to operating as international purchasers giving large orders directly to Taiwan firms, incorporating Taiwan as a critical link in their global supply chains.
民國七十年代前，外商是來台灣設廠生產，但台灣生產成本墊高後，外商不可能再在台灣設廠，於是轉而以國際採購的名義，向台商大量下單，把台商納為跨國集團全球供應鍊中相當關鍵的一環。