President Ma Ying-jeou met on the evening of May 21 with Mahfudz Siddiq, Chairman of Indonesia’s House of Representatives Commission I, at the Presidential Office. Chairman Siddiq was in Taiwan to attend the inauguration ceremonies for the 13th-term president and vice president of the ROC. Also attending the meeting were Vice President Wu Den-yih and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tung Kuoyu (董國猷).
In remarks, President Ma stated that Chairman Siddiq's visit here to attend the inauguration ceremonies not only represents a growing closeness in relations between the two countries, but also symbolizes the friendship of the Indonesian parliament for Taiwan. The president welcomed and thanked Chairman Siddiq on behalf of the government and people of the ROC.
The president pointed out that Taiwan is Indonesia's ninth largest investor and that Taiwan investments there have reached a total stock of over US$14.5 billion, thus helping to create over one million jobs there. The president remarked that bilateral trade stood at US$12.2 billion last year, and that Indonesia is Taiwan's 11th largest trading partner, 11th largest source of imports, and 13th largest export market. In addition, presently over 180,000 Indonesian laborers work in Taiwan, the president said. These figures illustrate the close state of bilateral relations on the trade and investment fronts, he said.
President Ma also explained to Chairman Siddiq that in the future the ROC will continue to serve as a peacemaker, a provider of humanitarian aid, a promoter of cultural ties, a creator of new technologies and business opportunities, and a standard-bearer of Chinese culture. He also expressed his hopes that Taiwan and Indonesia will continue to strengthen cooperation in a variety of fields, enabling the bilateral relationship to be closer, more flexible, and more open.