Taipei  - More than 7,000 small-and-medium enterprises have shut down in Taiwan in the past two years due to recession, a government agency announced Monday.

"At the end of 2006, there were 1.23 million small-and-medium enterprises in Taiwan. By the end of 2007, the number had dropped by more than 7,000," Lin Ping-pin, secretary-general of the National Association for Small-and-Medium Enterprises, said at a conference for small-and-medium enterprises, which is held every three years.

"But in the same period, large corporations increased by 1,600. So small-and-medium enterprises are facing severe challenges and need government assistance," he said.

At the conference, Economics Minister Yin Chii-ming said the government has increased loans to small-and-medium enterprises to tide them over the global financial crisis.

Taiwan has few national resources, so its economy depends mainly on exports, and small-and-medium enterprises have played a vital part in the island's export-oriented industries. (dpa)