CENS 2011/08/05
Taiwan intends to hold FTA talk with Indonesia
Taipei, Aug. 5, 2011 (CENS)--After negotiating with Singapore on economic partnership, Taiwan now studies similar talks with Indonesia to sign free trade agreement (FTA) to be member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
The Taiwan-Singapore talks focused on tariffs, opening of the service sector and economic partnerships, after having held such negotiations with the Philippines and India.
With 240 million people, Indonesia is the largest of the ASEAN members with rich natural resources as oil, natural gas and coal. Insiders say the mostly Muslim nation is a potential market that may have demand for machinery, plastics, electric machinery, steel & iron, and textiles from Taiwan.
Status of Taiwan`s FTA Negotiations
| Nation | Population (millions) | Per-capita income (US$) | Bilateral trade with Taiwan (US$B) | Top-3 items imported from Taiwan | Top-3 items exported to Taiwan |
| Indonesia | 240 | 2,748 | 10.54 | Oil & related products, textile, IT | Liquefied natural gas, crude oil, chemicals |
| The Philippines | 92.23 | 1,745 | 8.3 | IC & micro-module, petrochemical products, PCB | IC & micro-module, coal tar, capacitor |
| India | 1,156.89 | 1,030 | 6.46 | Diesel, vinyl chloride, transistor & related parts | Oil & diesel, alloy iron, non-plasticized zinc |
| Singapore | 4.8394 | 36,670 | 19.73 | IC & micro-module, petrochemical products, platinum | IC & micro-module, petrochemical products, electric chemicals |
Source: Bureau of Foreign Trade
(by Judy Li)
