Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) is encouraging Taiwanese enterprises to increase their investments in India and Indonesia, as both countries have advantages in labor costs and strong domestic demand.
MOEA's figures show that Taiwan's investments in 18 countries covered by its New Southbound Policy totaled US$18.78 billion from 2013 to August 2019, with those in Vietnam accounting for the highest percentage at 33.3% or US$6.25 billion.
Taiwan's investments in Singapore, Australia, Thailand and the Philippines during the period were all above US$1 billion, ranking from second to fifth, respectively, MOEA said. But the sums for Indonesia and India were only US$950 million and US$620 million, commanding only 5% and 3.3%, respectively.
Taiwan's trade with the 18 countries amounted US$54.2 billion in the first half of 2019 with Taiwan importing US$23.2 billion worth of goods from these nations.
Research firm IHS Markit's figures also indicate that India and Indonesia are expected to enjoy economic growth rates of 6.1% and 5% on year in 2019 and the numbers will continue rising 5% every year in the next three years.
Their populations also give these markets strong competitiveness. India's population was 1.3 billion in 2018, second only to China, while Indonesia had 260 million people, the fourth largest worldwide.
Of Taiwanese enterprises' investments in India, 63.9% are in the manufacturing sector, 20.7% in retail and 10.1% in financial and insurance businesses. As for Indonesia, 55.5% are for manufacturing, 40% for financial and insurance sectors, and 3.6% for retail.
To encourage more enterprises to invest in Indonesia, Taiwan External Trade Development Council recently hosted an event in Indonesia to showcase the country's investment environment.
Article translated by Joseph Tsai
