Guarding Taiwan Investments, From Electronics To Petrochemicals

Minister of Industry Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita held a meeting with a number of Taiwanese investors. (Photo: Ministry of Industry)

JAKARTA - The government opens the door to investors who want to enter Indonesia to grow the manufacturing industry. This is to strengthen the domestic industrial structure, from upstream to downstream, so that it will boost competitiveness.

"Therefore, Mr. President Joko Widodo stressed us to encourage downstream industry in the country, because it will have a broad impact on the national economy such as increasing employment," said Industry Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita in a statement received, Saturday, December 21.

Last Friday, the Minister of Industry had a meeting with a number of investors from Taiwan, including Litemax Electronics Inc, a company that produces digital communication devices. In addition, the Taiwan Sugar Corporation and CPC Corporation as an oil and natural gas company.

The Minister of Industry said that the opportunity for collaboration between Indonesian industry players and Taiwan is still quite prospective. This potential is considered to be profitable for growing the economy. In this case, the Ministry of Industry is also overseeing a number of investments in the manufacturing sector that will enter from Taiwan so that they can be quickly realized.

“We received reports that in the last few years many business missions from Taiwan have come to Indonesia. We believe that this business mission and the success stories of companies that have invested in Indonesia can be a gateway for increased investment in Indonesia, "he explained.

The Ministry of Industry noted that Taiwan was ranked 15th with a total realization of US $ 926.9 million or contributed 0.7 percent of all foreign investment (PMA) realization in the last five years. This achievement needs to be continuously improved, given the opportunity for industrial relocation in the midst of the trade war situation between the United States and China.

Agus emphasized that the Indonesian government is committed to simplifying regulations. This strategic step is to invite the DPR to issue an Omnibus Law which includes the Employment Creation Law and the MSME Empowerment Law.

"Each of these laws will become the Omnibus Law, which is one law that simultaneously revises several existing laws, even up to dozens of laws," he explained.

In addition, the government has issued Government Regulation Number 45 of 2019, one of which regulates the provision of fiscal incentives in the form of super deduction taxes for research and vocational activities with a reduction in gross income of up to 200-300 percent.

"We also appreciate the implementation of the Indonesia-Taiwan Industrial Collaboration Forum (ITICF) which was held in early December, which resulted in four cooperation MoUs," said the Minister of Industry.

Through this forum, several agreements have been reached in various fields such as industry, academics, capacity building and human resources. The first is the Think Tank Cooperation between Industry, Science and Technology International Strategy Center (ISTI) and the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) and Paramadina Public Policy Institute (PPPI).

Then, the Cooperation of Design Development, between the Taiwan Design Center (TDC) and the Directorate General of Small, Medium and Miscellaneous Industries (IKMA) of the Indonesian Ministry of Industry, represented by the Indonesian Economic and Trade Office (KDEI Taipei).

Next, Advanced Molding Technology and Education Cooperation between the Association of CAE Mold Technology and the Association of Computational Mechanics Taiwan (ACMT) and Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia. Furthermore, Implementation of Industry 4.0 Technology in The Virtual and Augmented Reality, between the Taiwan Association for Virtual And Augmented Reality (TAVAR) and the Indonesian Ministry of Industry's Center for Materials and Technical Products (B4T).