Indonesia’s most famous entrepreneur, S.D.Darmono, gave speech at the National Chengchi University on the 23rd of May. In his speech, he expressed that Indonesia and Taiwan can play a complementary role in many aspects and join hands to enter the international arena.
Darmono said, Indonesia is rich in natural resources and has a variety of forests, agriculture and mineral resources. Vast area of water also provides rich of abundant resources, which need to be further developed.
In addition, the average population of Indonesia is only 30 years old, and the demographic dividend has not yet been fully utilized. Indonesia urgently needs to strengthen the cultivation of talents and upgrade its technological level, while Taiwan has excellent of talents, frontier technologies, international connection and markets, and the two countries have extensive room for cooperation.
Darmono pointed out, Indonesia is the world’s third-largest democracy and the leader of 10 ASEAN countries. Its GDP of US$940 billion is the sum of Thailand, the Philippines, and Malaysia. He is very optimistic about the prospects for Indonesia’s future development.
Darmono believes that Indonesia will play more and more crucial role in the international political economy in the future. 63 years ago, the first Afro-Asian Conference held in Bandung, Indonesia, which has precluded colonialism and contributed to the development of the Non-Aligned Movement. Thus, Indonesia’s future role in the international community is very promising. A close cooperation with Indonesia will also help Taiwan to expand into international arena.
Indonesia has a population of 250 million and a land area of 1,900,000 km2 with unlimited business opportunities. Darmono is willing to serve as a platform for Taiwan to expand into the Indonesian market. For example, Indonesia plans to develop 100 new cities that require foreign technology, capital, and talents. Taiwan, as a neighbor, is the best partner. In the development of new cities, Darmono’s Jababeka Group plays a very important role and can also serve as a platform for Taiwan to expand into the Indonesian market.
Darmono was born from a poor background and hit the world with bare hands. He recalled the bits and pieces of his life and wrote 2 books to share his observations and experiences. The first book is titled “Think Big, Start Small, Move Fast”. The second book is titled “Building a Ship While Sailing”, the book is in the process of translation into Chinese and preparing to be published in Taiwan.
“New Southbound Policy” promoted by Taiwan government needs to be heard by local people. The most important point in Darmono’s speech today is that there is still much room for cooperation between Indonesia and Taiwan, and now is the golden time for Taiwan businessmen to invest in Indonesia.
