Taiwanese company eyes RI business opportunities

JAKARTA (JP): One of Taiwan's top companies said yesterday it was eying several attractive investment opportunities in Indonesia in the wake of the country's economic turmoil.

Core Pacific Group's chairman, Sheen Ching Jing, said that his company was actively seeking corporate investment opportunities in Indonesia.

"The outlook for foreign investors is extremely bright now because the best investment opportunities are there at a time when Indonesia has been hit severely," Sheen said at a media conference.

He singled out Indonesia as holding the most attractive targets in view of its precipitous currency decline -- more than 70 percent since early July -- and the chaos of its battered financial sector.

The rupiah's sharp fall, he said, had made Indonesian companies' assets much cheaper for foreign investors to buy.

Sheen said his group was interested in investing in the country's financial, energy and infrastructure sectors.

"We already have contacted good investment targets in Indonesia," he said adding that his company had chosen the widely diversified Artha Graha Group as its first partner.

Sheen said that Core Pacific was considering investing in PT Dynamika Bahari Sejahtera, a fishery company owned by Artha Graha.

Artha Graha owner Tommy Winata said that his company was still negotiating with Core Pacific over how many of the fishery company's shares would be sold.

Tommy declined to give further details about the Taiwanese investment plan, except to say that the two sides might end up as equal partners in Dynamika.

He said Dynamika was developing a US$60-million integrated fishery industry in Tual, Maluku, which would comprise plain water fishponds, sea weed, deep sea catching, and a fish-canning plant.

He added that the integrated fishery center would export about 500,000 tons of fresh and frozen fish, sea weed products and canned fish.

The outcome of the negotiations is expected to be officially announced in late April, he said.

Tommy said that his Taiwanese partner was also interested in cooperating with other companies.

State Minister of Investment Sanyoto Satrowardoyo said Monday that of the 56 countries with foreign investments in Indonesia, Taiwan currently ranked sixth, with its investments valued at US$13.4 billion in 627 projects.

Data from the Investment Coordinating Board shows that in 1997, Taiwan's investments stood at US$3.4 billion spread over 101 projects, ranks fourth after Britain ($5.5 billion), Japan ($5.4 billion), and Germany ($4.5 billion).

Investments made by Taiwanese businesspeople were mostly in petrochemical and resource-based industries and the financial sector. (gis)