Taiwan, RI to discuss rice shipment
Taiwan, RI to discuss rice shipment
TAIPEI (Dow Jones): Taiwan will begin negotiating next week with Jakarta authorities about the terms of payment for a 200,000-ton shipment of rice to Indonesia, an official at the Indonesian trade office in Taipei said yesterday.
"Next week, we're going to try to solve" the issue of payment for the rice shipment that was agreed upon between President Lee Teng-hui and visiting Indonesian officials earlier this month, Ahmed Bey Sofwan, vice chairman of the Indonesian Economic and Trade Office in Taipei, said.
"We're going to negotiate...and find the best way to finance the rice," he added.
He didn't rule out speculation that the rice would be financed with Indonesian oil shipments.
The National Logistics Agency in Jakarta and Taiwan's Council of Agriculture will handle the negotiations, he said.
Taiwan hasn't given any other government aid to Indonesia, Sofwan, speaking at a press conference coordinated by the Foreign Correspondents Club, said.
There hasn't been any financial aid because we don't have diplomatic ties" with Taiwan, Indonesia's Sofwan said.
Sofwan played down local reports that Taiwanese investors suffered damages in the wake of Indonesia's rioting. He said most Taiwanese factories were spared because they are located outside the city, where most of the looting occurred.
He also said Taiwanese investors haven't turned to the Indonesian Economic and Trade Office for official compensation.
"I don't know why the Taiwanese are very afraid," he said. "The Indonesian government is concerned about the safety of their factories. If the factories close," there would be unemployment, he explained.
Sofwan added that Taiwanese investment in Indonesia is usually in small-and medium-sized enterprises, which create jobs. Those countries that invest in the high-tech industry or the financial sector usually don't generate jobs for local Indonesians, he added.
Taiwan is the sixth-largest investor in Indonesia, with investment totaling US$13 billion, Sofwan said.