Indonesia-Taiwan
Joko Widodo: Taiwan-Indonesia business relations important.
Indonesian president-elect Joko Widodo has invited Taiwanese business tycoon Terry Gou (郭台銘) to attend his inauguration ceremony, slated for today, as a guest of honor, showing the importance he attaches to investment from Taiwan.
In an interview, the president-elect, who is also the governor of Jakarta, said that Indonesia and Taiwan must continue their cooperation.
He said that Indonesia wants to be a trade and manufacturing center that embraces foreign investment.
Citing the capital as an example, he said that the Jakarta Provincial Government has streamlined investment application procedures into a “one-stop service” center to save time and energy in acquiring government permission to invest.
The center also decreases the problem of excessive bureaucracy, he said.
Meanwhile, with the assistance of electronic procurement, auditing and taxation systems, corruption can be effectively suppressed, Widodo said.
He believes that facilities of this kind should be opened not just in Jakarta, but also in other major cities throughout the nation to attract investors, he said.
Joko Widodo (Jokowi) (kiri) bersama Chairman Foxconn Terry Gou di Balai Kota Jakarta, saat penandatanganan MoU.
He also said that investment in the construction of basic infrastructure is important to Indonesia, particularly power plants, harbors and airports.
Last year, Taiwanese investments in Indonesia reached US$400 million.
Widodo described this number as big, voicing hope that Taiwanese investment would continue to grow, and praising Taiwan for its strong manufacturing industry, as well as a good management system and investment talent.
Addressing Hon Hai Precision Industry Co’s (鴻海精密) ambitious investment project in Indonesia, Widodo, a key person in promulgating the plan, said the Indonesian government would help Hon Hai, which was founded by Gou, resolve problems like obtaining investment permits and acquiring land.
In February, Gou and Widodo signed a letter of intent, in which Hon Hai, the world’s largest contract electronics maker, promised to invest as least US$1 billion in Indonesia, while the Jakarta Provincial Government agreed that Hon Hai could set up factories on a plot of land in the state-run Marunda Export Processing Zone, in northern Jakarta.
Hon Hai’s investment is important to Indonesia, which is keen to upgrade its manufacturing capability and create jobs, Widodo said.
The president-elect won this year’s election with 53.15 percent of votes, with some of his support base coming from Indonesians working in Taiwan.
According to the election results, more than 70 percent of the nearly 200,000 Indonesian workers living in Taiwan voted for Widodo.
Source: Taipei Times