Taiwan and Korea Footwear Producers to Relocate to East Java

Taiwan and Korea Footwear Producers to Relocate to East Java

SURABAYA: Several footwear producers from Taiwan and Korea will relocate their plants in China to East Java, as many of workers in the two countries turned away to Information Technology (IT) sector and entertainment business.

Foreign investors prefer several regencies with minimum wage in the area of ring II, such as Jombang, Ngawi, Nganjuk, Lamongan Regency.

The minimum wage (UMK) in those regencies is ranging between IDR900,00 – IDR1.2 million a month or lower than IDR1.7 – IDR1.740 million per month in ring I (Surabaya, Gresik, Sidoarjo, Pasuruan, Mojokerto Regency).

Ali Mas’ud, Secretary of Indonesian Footwear Association (Aprisindo) for East Java, said foreign investors from Taiwan and Korea are interested to relocate their plants to East Java because the region has a lot of manpower and infrastructure such as power, port, and roads.

He said footwear producers from both countries need around 1,000 – 3,000 workers, while their products are sport and leather shoes for export market.

“Previously, Taiwan and Korea investors are operating their plants in China, but their production falls drastically as many of their workers turned away to IT and entertainment sector. Labor wage in China is increasingly expensive,” he told Bisnis, Sunday (8/11/2013).

He added that the selected regions for plant relocation are several regencies in East Java with minimum wage included in the area of ring II, such as Jombang Regency with UMK of IDR1.2 million a month, Ngawi Regency with IDR900,000 per month, Lamongan Regency with IDR1.075 million a month, and Madiun Regency with IDR960,750 per month. (msw)