The total trading volume achieved an all-time record of 7,944,254 contracts, representing an increase of 82.57%, compared with 4,351,390 contracts of year 2001. The average daily trading volume of year 2002 is 32,033 contracts, representing a growth of 66.39%, compared to 19,252 contracts of year 2001. Daily trading volume hit a new high of 53,075 contracts on October 23rd. On the same day, the trading volume of the Taiwan Stock Exchange Capitalization Weighted Stock Index (TAIEX) futures alone was 35,245 contracts, also broke the record. Open interest for all contracts amounted to an all-time high of 118,138 contracts on December 13th.
In particular, the growth of the TAIEX options is notable despite the fact that it was just launched before the close of 2001. The average daily trading volume for the TAIEX options for 2002 was 6,316 contracts, and for December alone was more than 16,000 contracts. Regarding the open interests, the figure for January and December was 3,988 and over 75,000 respectively, marking a dramatic growth.
Domestic individual traders have actively participated in the TAIFEX market. In order to attract institutional participants who would use the TAIFEX products for hedging purpose and are expected to contribute substantially to the growth of the market, the TAIFEX has organized a task force to offer one-stop service to meet their inquiries since midyear 2000. And we are pleased to see the actual market share of institutional participants has been increased tremendously from 5 % to almost 20% since then. We believe that with the increasing liquidity and decreasing regulatory barriers, the TAIFEX is able to provide a better trading environment for all.
For year 2003, the TAIFEX plans to launch Equity Options early this year. The Taiwan 50 Stock Index Futures, new narrow-based stock index futures, are planned to be launched in June, in relation to the Taiwan Stock Exchange's upcoming launch of the Taiwan 50 ETF product. Last but not the least, short-term interest rate futures and government bond futures are also scheduled for late 2003, to further diversify the TAIFEX product line.
In terms of international connection, the TAIFEX has successfully joined the Swiss Futures and Options Association (SFOA) in year 2002, after joining the Futures Industry Association (FIA) and International Options Market Association (IOMA) in early years. In addition, TAIFEX entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Korea Futures Exchange (KOFEX) on November 27, 2002. The aim of the motion is to form a foundation for cooperation between the two exchanges, with a hope to further develop plans for future business alliance. As both the TAIFEX and KOFEX are experiencing rapid growth at this stage, mutual benefits are expected through this cooperation.
