At least five Chinese companies are exploring the possibility of setting up joint venture factories to produce technical equipment for both local and international markets, says an executive from the Chinese trade commission.
Speaking Monday during a media conference to mark the sixth Chinese technical equipment exhibition in Jakarta, Wang Qing Jiang, a senior director for Shanghai's foreign economic relations and trade commission, said the Chinese companies would make use of the exhibition to meet and discuss with local partners interested in cooperating with them.
However, Wang declined to mention the names of the companies and the investment amounts, saying the details would be part of internal discussions between the companies and their potential partners.
"The exhibition will create opportunities for those companies whose executives may not have been here before, to meet directly and discuss the prospects of investing in Indonesia with potential partners," he said.
The exhibition will be held from Aug. 22-25 in the Jakarta International Expo building complex in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta. More than 120 exhibitors from five provinces in China -- Shanghai, Zhejiang, Zoushan, Taizhou and Ningbo -- are expected to participate.
The exhibition, which will showcase the latest innovations from the technical equipment sector, is expected to help boost the total export value from China to Indonesia, which reached US$19 billion last year.
"We hope the exhibition will support the government's target to reach $20 billion in export value this year," said Wang.
"We hope both Chinese producers and investors in the technical equipment sector can benefit from the exhibition, which we anticipate will attract around 10,000 visitors," said Wang.
He said 90 exhibitors attended last year's exhibition, which attracted around 8,000 visitors and yielded $11.8 billion in export value.
Speaking at the same conference, Deputy ambassador of China for Indonesia Fang Qiuchen said Chinese firms had begun to seek other places to develop their factories because production costs in China had risen after more international companies made investments.
"All top 500 companies in the world have come to China to make investments because they found production costs were cheaper. As a result, labor costs are rising, leading companies to consider other places for future investment.
"This affects labor intensive industries. Companies have actually stopped investing in China and moved elsewhere, such as to Vietnam, Cambodia and Indonesia, where labor costs are considered lower," he said.
Fang said opportunities to invest in Indonesia existed in almost every sector because China's expertise and technology, which Indonesia might require to help boost its economy, is spread across almost every sector.
Chinese investment value in Indonesia reached $10 billion last year, making Indonesia the fourth largest investment destination of the country. (12)
Find Article by Date