Taiwan will not change investment policy in Indonesia
Taiwan will not change investment policy in Indonesia
TAIPEI (AFP): Officials here said the government's "southward" policy to increase investment in Indonesia will not change despite a labor protest in that country that degenerated into an anti-Chinese riot.
Taiwanese are considered part of the ethnic Chinese race, which controls 80 percent of the economy in Indonesia.
Liu Tai-ying, chairman of the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) Enterprises Administration, said it was government policy to increase investment in Indonesia, and the incident would not affect this policy.
Liu, who recently returned from an investment survey visit in Indonesia, however, said it was necessary for both government and private sectors to list the anti-Chinese element as one of the investment risks while making plans there.
Foreign Ministry officials asked businessmen here to be cautious during their investment activities in Indonesia.
They predicted there may be a short-term effect on the plans of local firms to invest in Indonesia, but said the incident should be considered an isolated case. Taiwan investors should continue activity in Indonesia, given the attractive investment conditions there, officials said.
Taiwan has encouraged its firms to invest in developing Batam Island.
Last week's labor protests in Medan, the capital of Indonesia's North Sumatra province, have left one man killed, several shop owners beaten, 12 demonstrations injured, 150 shops ransacked or looted and 12 cars ablaze.
Approval
Meanwhile, Taiwan's Investment Commission said yesterday that Taipei approved 65 overseas investment projects totaling US$530 million by local businessmen in the first quarter of 1994, a 66 percent increase in value over a year earlier.
Approved investment by foreigners on the island in the January-March period was up 49 percent to $273 million over the same period last year, the government agency said.
The outbound projects do not include Taiwan's growing investment in China, the commission said.
Taiwan has become the second largest investors in the mainland after Hong Kong. Some 10,000 Taiwan enterprises have invested an estimated $13 billion in projects in China.
Singapore replaced the United States as the most popular destination for the island's investors, attracting four projects amounting to $23.6 million in the quarter, the commission said.
The banking and financial sector was the most favored field for Taiwan enterprises while the electronics and electric appliance industry followed second, it said.
Europe, trailed by Japan, was Taiwan's largest foreign investor in the period with $93 million of eight projects approved, a jump of 36 percent in value.
The electronics and electric appliances sector was most favored by foreign investors, absorbing 36 percent of overall approved foreign investment, while the chemical industry followed with 18 percent, the commission said.