Taiwanese investment

Taiwanese investment

I am writing to point out a couple of mistakes in your report
on Taiwanese investment in Indonesia that appeared in The Jakarta
Post on March 8, 1995.

First, the report quoted the number of Taiwanese affiliates in
Indonesia (49, which was mistaken to be 39), that were
incorporated in our study and used that number to compare with
sample sizes in other countries. In fact, sample size only
reflects the number of respondents to our survey and not
necessarily the actual population of investors.

Since official statistics on foreign investment are usually
unreliable, it is very difficult to determine whether Indonesia
attracted more Taiwanese investment than other Southeast Asian
Countries or not. We do know that in recent years Taiwanese
investment into Indonesia has been on the rise. Furthermore, our
survey also shows that average employment of Taiwanese projects
in Indonesia is the largest among all countries surveyed.

Second, our study did not attempt to compare the
attractiveness of investment climate in South East Asia. Our
study, however, indicates that Taiwanese investors like the
inexpensive cost and potential local market in Indonesia. While
investors in other countries may prefer other attractions, this
does not suggest that Indonesia is less or more attractive than
other countries.

For a host country, I think the key is to attract the
industries that are conducive to economic development and income
equity, and I believe that Taiwanese investors can deliver these.
The amount of investment is only a secondary concern.

I appreciate the Post's attention to this important issue of
foreign investment.

TAIN-JY, CHEN

Chung-Hua Institute

for Economic Research

Taiwan