Taiwan is stepping up efforts to attract Muslim travelers, particularly from Indonesia, with plans to open a tourism office in Jakarta next year as the country seeks to tap into one of the world’s fastest-growing outbound travel markets.
Lin Hsin-jen (林信任), Taiwan’s deputy representative in Indonesia, described Indonesia as a market Taiwan can no longer afford to overlook, noting that the country of 280 million is not only “the world’s largest Muslim tourism market,” but also one of the region’s most reliably growing economies.
“For Taiwan, this is our new blue ocean for tourism,” Lin said in an interview in Jakarta.
Photo: Reuters
Currently, more than 200,000 Indonesians visit Taiwan each year, a number Lin expects to rise as Taiwan increases its on-the-ground presence and promotional efforts.
Taiwan also consistently ranks second or third worldwide in global surveys evaluating Muslim-friendly tourism destinations, he added.
He said he sees strong growth potential in Indonesia’s family travel, affluent tourists, corporate incentive trips, and overseas Chinese-learning educational tours, and believes Taiwan’s tourism products are well-suited to meet the needs of these travelers.
“Visitors can shop, enjoy mountains and rivers, and experience culture -- all in one place. In this way, Taiwan’s tourism products are a perfect match for the Indonesian market,” Lin said.
According to Indonesian media reports, outbound travel by Indonesian citizens rose 7.63 percent from January to May 2025 compared with the same period in 2024.
“Taiwan is ready. What we need now is the final push in marketing,” Lin said, noting that Taiwan’s Tourism Administration is preparing to launch a dedicated tourism office in Jakarta in 2026 to accelerate outreach.
Besides tapping into Indonesia’s growing tourism market, Taiwan is also strengthening industrial and trade ties with the Southeast Asian nation, said Lu Feng-ching (路豐璟), director of the economic division of the Taipei Economic and Trade Office in Indonesia (TETO).
This year, Taiwan and Indonesia signed a design cooperation agreement aimed at expanding exchanges in exhibitions, professional judging and young designer talent, he said.
The two countries also signed an agreement on Halal promotion, allowing Taiwanese food, beverages, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals certified by the Taiwan Halal Integrity Development Association to enter Indonesia without separate certification, Lu said.
This agreement not only promotes trade with Indonesia, but also opens doors to Middle Eastern markets, he said.
Taiwanese businesses are also expanding their footprint across Indonesia, with roughly 2,000 companies active in manufacturing and services. These range from shoe, textile and electronics manufacturing to financial services, telecommunications and transport, according to Lu.
Taiwan has also been expanding educational exchanges with Indonesia through scholarships and specialized programs, said Grace Ou (歐淑芬), director of the education division at TETO.
TETO Representative Bruce Hung (洪振榮), meanwhile, highlighted the scale of people-to-people exchanges between the two countries, citing roughly 18,000 Indonesian students and more than 300,000 Indonesian workers in Taiwan.
These human connections, he said, form “the foundation of Taiwan-Indonesia relations.”
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex
MOTIVES QUESTIONED The PLA considers Xi’s policies toward Taiwan to be driven by personal considerations rather than military assessment, the Epoch Times reports Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) latest purge of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) leadership might have been prompted by the military’s opposition to plans of invading Taiwan, the Epoch Times said. The Chinese military opposes waging war against Taiwan by a large consensus, putting it at odds with Xi’s vision, the Falun Gong-affiliated daily said in a report on Thursday, citing anonymous sources with insight into the PLA’s inner workings. The opposition is not the opinion of a few generals, but a widely shared view among the PLA cadre, the Epoch Times cited them as saying. “Chinese forces know full well that
RSS