“We have many cooperation potentials with Taiwan that can be improved, ranging from the potential for increasing exports and investment, especially in the agricultural sector,” the chair of East Java Kadin Adik Dwi Putranto said here on Friday.
So far, around 120 companies from Taiwan have invested in East Java, he added.
Based on data from Statistics Indonesia (BPS), the total trade between Indonesia and Taiwan in 2021 reached US$11.31 billion, with non-oil and gas trade recorded at US$10.63 billion.
Indonesia's non-oil and gas exports to Taiwan recorded a sharp spike of 70.7 percent to reach US$6.36 billion in 2021 from US$3.72 billion in 2020.
Putranto also highlighted opportunities for increasing skilled human resources by sending Indonesian students to Taiwan.
"We want to send students from East Java to Taiwan for attending vocational programs, internships at companies in Taiwan, or Taiwanese companies in Indonesia," he said.
The visit of director general of the Taipei Economic and Trade Office (TETO), Isaac Chiu, represented by secretary Ichi Lin, and Djimantoro Widjojo at the East Java Kadin office on Wednesday (March 15, 2023) was an opportunity to increase cooperation, he added.
Meanwhile, East Java Kadin's deputy chair for international trade and promotion, Tommy Kaihatu, said that the potential for cooperation with Taiwan is quite large, especially in terms of exports.
Taiwan is the 12th largest investor in Indonesia, he added. There are at least 200 thousand Indonesian migrant workers and 80 thousand Indonesian students in Taiwan.
"The East Java Kadin wants to develop agro-business cooperation with Taiwan, including in tourism, because East Java's agricultural potential is very huge and needs to be developed as much as possible," Kaihatu said.
The agricultural cooperation with Taiwan that he mentioned included governance and post-harvest handling.
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Translator: Willi I, Kenzu
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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