Taiwan export-import value to go up by 20%

Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung

Taiwan's economic and trade representative in Indonesia, David YL Lin, has expressed hope that his country's investment in Indonesia would increase by 5 percent this year from last year's US$13 billion.

Taiwan is the fifth largest investor in Indonesia after Japan, the United States, Singapore and Britain.

Lin also said that Taiwan had aimed at increasing the balance value of export and import between both countries by 20 percent from US$5.98 billion in 2004.

"Basically, Taiwan investors don't find any problems putting their money here. It's just the legal aspects related to labor, for instance. Labor compensation is too high," he told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of a Taiwan Business Club meeting here over the weekend.

Last year, Taiwan exported to Indonesia machinery, computer hardware and electronic products worth $1.87 billion. In return, the country imported LNG, wood, paper pulp and electronic components worth $4.11 billion.

Taiwan's total investment here reached $13 billion from about 1,000 companies, including major firms Pao-cheng Shoes Co., Acer, Bank Chinatrust, President Food, RSEA and Na Ya Plastics.

The companies employed about 7,000 managerial and technical workers from Taiwan and about 700,000 local workers.

Sandy Lee, a representative of Jakarta's Taiwan Business Club, said, "We're losing competitive advantage in the manufacturing sector due to labor costs and raw materials."

The meeting was attended by 30 representatives of the club's seven branches in Bandung, Jakarta, Semarang, Medan, Surabaya, Cirebon and Batam.