TEMPO.CO, Taipei - The Taiwanese Government is set to increase its investment value and trade with Indonesia through one of its programs dubbed the ‘New Southbound Policy’ that was issued in 2016.
Yc Tsai, Negotiator from Taiwanese Government Executive Trade Negotiation, said that his government wants to bring back its investment value in Indonesia as it was 20 years ago. At the time, according to Tsai, Taiwan was the second largest investor in Indonesia. He reasons that Taiwan has dropped to the 13th spot because of the of today’s level of competition with several other countries.
Tsai revealed that Taiwan’s investment in Indonesia throughout 1990-2016 has reached US$717.2 billion or Rp.9,644.1 trillion. Last year alone, Taiwan managed to invest up to US$7 billion. Taiwan’s interest towards investing in Indonesia is driven by Indonesia’s massive market that is supported by its huge natural resources.
Tsai revealed that Taiwan’s main interest is to invest in Indonesia’s agriculture, fishery, petrochemical manufacturing, steel, and shipyard.
One of the factors that have been hampering Taiwanese investors to enter the Indonesian market, according to Tsai, is Indonesia’s tendency to adopt the One China policy. “We hope that the access for us to invest is opened,” said Tsai.
Robert James Bintaryo, Head of Indonesian Economic and Trade Office in Taipei said that several Taiwanese companies such as Taiwan Sugar and Taiwan Salt are already in the process of making capital investments in Indonesia.
HUSSEIN ABRI DONGORAN
