New trade data shows Asia exports two-thirds of the world’s high-tech goods for information and communications, a key shift the U.N. attributes to the global financial crisis.
U.N. data released Wednesday shows China and Hong Kong export four times as many of the goods as the U.S. ($113 billion).
Asian economies accounted for 66.3 per cent of global exports of information and communication technology in 2009.
Exports from India and Malaysia rose, while those from China, Hong Kong and several other Asian nations fell modestly. Exports from the U.S., Europe and Japan fell sharply.
This type of technology -- key to helping nations develop -- accounts for 12 percent of global trade. The U.S., China and Hong Kong are also the biggest importers of these goods.