Taiwan may recruit RI workers again soon

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.