Taiwan’s ship-builders urged to invest in Indonesia

A senior economic official in the Indonesian government has called for Taiwan’s ship-building sector to consider investing in his country, which he said is working to become a maritime power and actively engaged in international maritime trade.

For that goal, Indonesia — the world’s largest island-nation — needs more ships, said Edy Putra Irawady, deputy minister of the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs, in a recent interview with CNA.

Praising Taiwan for its experience and advanced techniques in ship building and managing the routes of container and cargo vessels, Edy urged Taiwanese shipbuilders to consider investing in Indonesia.

Moreover, such cooperation need not be limited to shipbuilding, but can also encompass ship repair and maintenance work, Edy said.

Maritime business is one potential sector where the two countries can work together, said the official who has visited Taiwan several times over the past few years to study the nation’s economy.

Edy has said that Indonesia needs Taiwan’s metal and steel, electronic and textile products and can also learn from its fishery techniques.

He praised Taiwan for developing a broad global commercial network and good-quality high-tech products that he believes are more competitive than those of South Korea and China.

Asked if Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy conflicts with China’s Belt and Road Initiative, Edy said he sees them as two different approaches.

The Belt and Road Initiative refers to a development strategy launched by Beijing to promote economic cooperation among countries along proposed routes that connect China with Asia, Europe and Africa.

According to Edy, the Chinese initiative focuses on infrastructure development and Taiwan’s policy is aimed at seeking multilateral cooperation to boost regional economic growth and prosperity.

Taipei’s New Southbound Policy was not developed solely for Taiwan’s own interests, Edy said.

Also the “quality” of New Southbound investments is different from that of Road and Belt Initiative projects, the economics official said, explaining that China has already invested in many Indonesian industries, though many of those involve high-carbon emissions.

In contrast, Taiwan’s investments mostly target industries involved in the high technology sector and involve high quality products and high tech talent. “Indonesia has benefited in the long term,” Edy said.

The New Southbound Policy was proposed by the Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) administration after its inauguration on May 20, 2016 to boost economic, trade, cultural and talent exchanges with countries in Southeast and South Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

Paramitaningrum, an expert in international relations at Bina Nusantara University, points out that the Taiwanese and Chinese initiatives have different goals and operational mechanisms.

“Taiwan needs avoid competing with China” if it wants to expand its existence in Southeast Asia, the scholar said, because for example Taiwan cares more than China about cooperation in the areas of education and medical treatment, therefore it has a better advantage there.

In terms of “capacity building,” Paramitaningrum suggests that Indonesia should learn from Taiwan how to discover and cultivate talent. This is one area that could prove key in ensuring interactions between the two countries continue to grow, she said.
Source: CNA