Standard Chartered has raised its 2026 growth forecast for Taiwan to 9.5% from 7.6%, citing stronger-than-expected first-quarter expansion and surging artificial intelligence demand that is boosting exports, semiconductor production and investment. The Taiwan AI economy outlook follows first-quarter GDP growth of 13.7% year on year, marking the fastest quarterly expansion in nearly four decades. The bank said exports surged 35.3% during the quarter as global demand for AI-rel