Jakarta: 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, 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.

According to Focus Taiwan, more than 200,000 Indonesians currently 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. Lin 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.

Indonesian media reports indicate that outbound travel by Indonesian citizens rose 7.63 percent from January to May 2025 compared with the same period in 2024. Lin stated that Taiwan is ready and that the final push in marketing is needed. 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, Lu Feng-ching, director of the economic division of the Taipei Economic and Trade Office in Indonesia (TETO), told CNA. This year, Taiwan and Indonesia signed a design cooperation agreement aimed at expanding exchanges in exhibitions and professional judging. They also signed an agreement on Halal promotion, allowing Taiwanese products certified by the Taiwan Halal Integrity Development Association to enter Indonesia without separate certification.

Taiwanese businesses are also expanding their footprint across Indonesia, with roughly 2,000 companies active in manufacturing and services, ranging from shoe, textile, and electronics manufacturing to financial services, telecommunications, and transport, according to Lu.

Taiwan has been expanding educational exchanges with Indonesia through scholarships and specialized programs, said Grace Ou, director of the education division at TETO. For instance, the Taiwan government launched a new initiative in 2023 offering dual-degree programs, where students from Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries spend two years studying in their home countries and two years in Taiwan, aiming to enable them to stay and work in Taiwan after graduation.

TETO Representative Bruce C.J. Hung 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 form “the foundation of Taiwan-Indonesia relations.”