Indonesia to participate in World Trade Week in Taipei

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia will participate in the World Trade Week in Taipei beginning Oct. 17 with 3,000 trade representative from around 100 countries attending.

The event is a combination of the 25th annual convention of the World Trade Center Association (WTCA) and Taiwan's biennial Taipei International Fair (TIF).

A press release from the Taipei Economic and Trade Office Information Division said yesterday that WTCA representatives will discuss their experiences in global trade and how to promote it during the Oct. 16-20 period. Participating countries, meanwhile, will display products ready to enter Taiwan's market during the TIF period on Oct. 8-23.

Taiwan was Indonesia's 6th largest trading partner last year with total trade of US$2.9 billion. The amount only accounted for about 1.7 percent of Taiwan's total international trade in 1993.

During the first four months of this year, trade between the two countries reached $1.04 billion, with Indonesia running a surplus of $212 million.

Investment

Meanwhile, an investment and trade delegation from Taiwan, comprising executives from more than 60 small and medium companies, is currently on a visit here to participate in the Jakarta Fair at Kemayoran, Central Jakarta.

Joseph Hsu, the leader of the delegation, said that the delegation will visit other cities, including Bandung (West Java), Semarang (Central Java) and Surabaya (East Java), to discuss trade and investment with local entrepreneurs and authorities.

Hsu said that the Taiwan pavilion in the Jakarta Fair is the biggest pavilion and had attracted the most visitors so far,

Hsu, the general manager of the largest plastic injection mold manufacturer in his country, Taiwan Harlin Enterprises Co., said that Taiwan's leading trade promotion organization, the China External Trade Development (Cetra), and the Taipei World Trade Center, have helped organized the delegation.

Taiwan has so far invested in 266 projects worth over US$4 billion throughout Indonesia.

The Taipei Economic and Trade Office said that until the end of May, the total approved investments from Taiwan amounted to $8.68 billion, making Taiwan the second largest foreign investor in the country.(icn/09)