TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Indonesian Representative to Taiwan Budi Santoso on Wednesday (Sept. 14) welcomed more Taiwanese businesses to help Indonesian companies boost mutually beneficial trade and investment.
Speaking at an Indonesian 77th Independence Day celebratory event, Santoso said Taiwan’s investment in Indonesia has reached approximately US$1.6 billion (NT$49.78 billion) over the last five years in various sectors, including export-oriented, labor-intensive, and high-tech industries. The representative told Taiwan News that he hopes moving Indonesia’s capital city from Jakarta to the island of Kalimantan will attract more Taiwanese investment in the high-tech industry.
Santoso said he looked forward to more bilateral economic and trade cooperation given Indonesia’s abundant production materials and Taiwan’s technological expertise.
He pointed out that the new capital, Nusantara, is symbolic because of its more central location. This means development can spread out in all directions rather than from one side of the nation to the other.
The representative said there are 350,000 Indonesian citizens living in Taiwan, which is a popular study abroad destination for Indonesian students. There are about 16,000 Indonesian students in Taiwan enrolled in short courses or internship programs, undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral programs at various leading colleges and universities, he added.
“We are optimistic that Indonesia and Taiwan’s economic, social, and cultural cooperation will continue to grow and strengthen each other,” Santoso said.
(Taiwan News, Kelvin Chen photo)
Deputy Foreign Minister Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said Taiwan and Indonesia are close regional neighbors. Around 2,000 Taiwanese businesses are currently investing in the Southeast Asian country, “creating tremendous job opportunities for local people,” Tien said.
Taiwan is listed by Indonesia’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology as one of its four recommended countries for government-funded overseas studies, the minister said.
Tien said Taiwan donated 200 locally made oxygen concentrators to health facilities across Indonesia during the height of the pandemic. In 2021, Taiwan assisted in the repatriation of 105 Indonesian seafarers stranded on ships in waters around Taiwan, “highlighting the staunch partnership between our nations,” he added.
The minister said bilateral trade rose to US$6.78 billion in 2020 and increased by more than 60%, reaching US$10.97 billion in 2021. Taiwan is working with Indonesia to promote cooperative projects in its agriculture and fisheries sectors, he said.
Indonesia is a significant partner in Taiwan’s South Bound Policy, Tien said, adding that he hopes to “make the best of Taiwan’s advantages to develop even stronger ties with Southeast Asian nations and generate long-lasting economic benefits throughout the entire region.”
Looking to the future, the minister said Taiwan and Indonesia will expand on their cooperative ties to grow and deepen bilateral exchanges further.
The Independence Day celebrations included traditional dances from Bali and Aceh performed by Indonesian students. Professor Made Mantle Hood from Tainan National University of the Arts’s Graduate Institute of Ethnomusicology and Professor Ying-fen Wang (王櫻芬) from National Taiwan University’s Graduate Institute of Musicology gave a brief introduction about the instruments and music featured in the performances.
“Dances are one way to introduce Indonesian culture to Taiwan,” Santoso said. The last Indonesian Independence Day celebration was in 2019.
(Taiwan News, Kelvin Chen photo)
(Taiwan News, Kelvin Chen photo)
