TAIPEI: In a bid to boost Taiwan’s lackluster exports to Southeast Asia, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) is encouraging Taiwanese companies to invest more in India and Indonesia, where domestic demand is promising.
Taiwan’s exports suffered an 11.9 percent year-on-year decline in July, dropping for the sixth consecutive month, while exports contracted 7.8 percent in the first seven months of the year.
In particular, Taiwan’s exports to the countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) dropped for the eighth consecutive month in July, registering an 18.9 percent year-on-year decrease.
With the rise of the “red supply chain,” in which China is encouraging the use of locally made components, Taiwanese suppliers have been seeing decreasing orders despite their investments in China.
In light of those factors, the MOEA said, it is hoping to create new export momentum by encouraging investments in other promising markets such as India and Indonesia.
The ministry said it plans to promote 10 “turn-key” Taiwan projects for export, namely the electronic toll collection (ETC) system, light-emitting diodes, smart schools, electronic government, solar power plants, petrochemical factories, the public bicycle rental system, logistics, medical management systems, and cloud computing systems.
The ETC project, for example, has the potential to help create more than 20 partnerships in the ASEAN region and in European countries such as Russia and Italy, the ministry said.
The MOEA said it also plans to build industrial parks in India and Indonesia to attract Taiwanese investors, who can develop their own brands there through partnerships with domestic distributors and services providers and thus help boost the market share of Taiwan-made products in the ASEAN region.
