We need to be aware of this development because China and Taiwan are also important (partners) in Indonesia's international trade (activities).
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesia needs to be cautious of the ongoing political tensions between China and Taiwan since they could affect the trade sector, deputy for statistics on distribution and services at Statistics Indonesia (BPS), Setianto, has said.

"We need to be aware of this development because China and Taiwan are also important (partners) in Indonesia's international trade (activities)," he added at a press conference on Indonesia's export and import performance here on Monday.

China is a strategic trading partner for Indonesia and accounted for 23.21 percent of Indonesia’s exports and 28.70 percent of its imports in 2021.

Meanwhile, according to data from the BPS, Indonesia's exports to Taiwan have also tended to increase.

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"Furthermore, we (also) know that China and Taiwan are the main global exporters for electronic components," the deputy noted.

According to data from the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC) cited by BPS, China was the second-largest exporter of integrated electronic circuits as well as the largest exporter of computer products and office machine parts in the world in 2020.

The same year, Taiwan was the largest integrated circuits exporter as well as the fourth-largest office machine parts exporter globally.

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Relations between China and Taiwan heated up after the Speaker of the United States’ House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, visited Taipei on August 2, 2022.

Earlier, head of the Fiscal Policy Agency (BKF) of the Finance Ministry, Febrio Kacaribu, had said that the impact of the geopolitical tensions on Indonesia’s economy has been relatively small so far.

"So far, we have not seen any significant impact, but we still have to be vigilant," he added.

In addition to geopolitical tensions, the other aspect that Indonesia must look into is the declining price of a number of Indonesia’s main export and import commodities.

According to the BPS, the commodities include crude oil, natural gas, nickel, and crude palm oil.


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Translator: Sella Gareta, Uyu Liman
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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