Christie Chen
Taipei, February 1, 2019
India’s top envoy to Taiwan touted the relationship between the two countries on Thursday at an event in Taipei to celebrate India’s 70th Republic Day.
India-Taipei Association Director General Sridharan Madhusudhanan said that direct investment from Taiwan to India has increased tenfold in the last year.
Major Taiwanese companies such as Foxconn, Delta Electronics Co, Wistron Corp and Century Development Corporation (CDC) are reaping benefits from their investments in India, he said.
CDC, a Taiwan-based joint venture that develops industrial parks, is building a Taiwan Technology and Innovation Park in Bengaluru, he added.
Updated Investment Agreement
“India and Taiwan also updated a bilateral investment agreement in December 2018, and jointly established an investment facilitation office in New Delhi exclusively for Taiwanese businesses, called ‘Taiwan Plus.’ On people-to-people contacts, we see an increased flow of tourists on both sides. More Indian students are opting for Taiwan universities than before,”
he said, speaking at the event organised by the India-Taipei Association.
Deputy Foreign Minister Hsu Szu-chien said that trade and tourism between Taiwan and India increased last year.
“Bilateral trade in the first 11 months of 2018 increased by 12.5% from the previous year, while the number of tourists visiting Taiwan from India during that period grew by about 11% from the same period in 2017,” he said.
Successful New Southbound Policy
Mr Hsu said that the ‘New Southbound Policy’ launched by President Tsai Ing-wen’s administration sees India as one of Taiwan’s most important partners.
Taiwan’s government is helping to develop the Taiwan Technology and Innovation Park in Bengaluru, he said, adding that the Park is expected to be the first industrial cluster for Taiwanese businesses in India and could facilitate further investment in the country.
Report Courtesy: Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation, Taipei, Taiwan
