Better global demand seen boosting semicon sector

[SINGAPORE] The old has gone, the new has come.

After the global downturn that the semiconductor industry was mired in last year, 2014 looks set to be a rosier year for this cyclical sector, amid regained confidence that better global demand will bolster manufacturing in Singapore.

Signs are indicating that the world economy is on a growth path. The International Monetary Fund has said that it would revise upward its global economic growth forecast of 3.6 per cent in 2014, compared to 2.9 per cent in 2013.

"There is usually a strong correlation between global GDP and the integrated circuit (IC) market," Infineon Technologies Asia-Pacific president and managing d…