Taiwan may recruit RI workers again
Taiwan may recruit RI workers again
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Taiwan will resume its recruitment of Indonesian workers after
the expected signing in May 2004 of a memorandum of understanding
(MoU) on labor cooperation, Taiwan's new economic and trade
representative to Indonesia said on Sunday.
"The negotiations on the draft MoU (on labor cooperation) are
almost finished. Hopefully, it will be signed by May 2004," David
Y.L. Lin, Taiwan's trade and economic representative in
Indonesia, said in Jakarta on Sunday during a press briefing.
Lin, who assumed his post just four months ago in Jakarta,
said Taiwan did not want Indonesian workers to be exploited by
greedy labor sending agencies while working in Taiwan.
The main objectives of the MoU are to enhance the welfare of
Indonesian workers, increase wages and provide legal protection.
Taiwan had imposed a temporary ban on the recruitment of
workers from Indonesia after Jakarta failed to resolve problems
involving in the exorbitant fees charged by local labor agencies
as well as the issue of illegal Indonesian workers.
After the ban, the number of Indonesian workers was dropped to
the present 56,000 from a peak of 100,000 in 2002.
The ban was supposed to be lifted in March after the visit of
Taiwan's labor minister Chen Chu in January 2004. But the ban was
not lifted, and no reason was publicly announced.
Most Indonesian manpower supply agencies impose high fees on
workers (to whom they are indebted for years) but provide almost
no protection or training.
"We feel that the money earned by Indonesian workers must be
theirs alone, and not end up being sent back to the labor
agencies or any other group. There must be reasonable fees for
labor supply agencies and a system to enable Indonesian workers
to work in Taiwan and earn more money for themselves," Lin said.
Many Indonesians, who can earn around US$500 per month in
Taiwan -- eight to 10 times higher than this country -- who do
not want to pay their hard-earned cash to unscrupulous labor
agents from both Indonesia and Taiwan, decide to work as illegal
workers.
Taiwan recruits mainly Indonesian workers for jobs in
households, hospitals, factories and construction sectors.
Indonesian workers, who are hard working, and have won the
hearts and minds of Taiwanese employers, Lin said.
He mentioned that the cooperation from the Indonesia's
manpower ministry is very good and both the countries agreed on
the need to improve labor conditions.
After the signing of the MoU in May, 2004, Taiwan plans to
lift the ban on the recruitment of Indonesian workers, Lin added.
Indonesia does not maintain official diplomatic ties with
Taiwan due to its "One China" policy.
Yet, Taiwan, whose interests are handled by Lin's office, has
emerged as an important trading partner of Indonesia.
For example, the total bilateral trade volume was US$4.44
billion in 2003 or up 9.5 percent from the previous year. With
its cumulative investment of $13 billion through 2003, Taiwan
would be Indonesia's fifth largest foreign investor.