World Trade Center Mumbai and All India Association of Industries (AIAI) collaborated to host an interactive meeting with a prominent business delegation from Taiwan, focusing on exploring emerging opportunities for bilateral economic cooperation.
Positive opinions on India’s business environment were voiced by the delegation during the event, led by Peter Huang, Specialist of South Asia department, Market Development Department, Taiwan External Trade Development Council.
Huang emphasised Taiwan’s strong desire to strengthen trade and investment ties with India while highlighting India’s friendly environment for Taiwanese industry. This is the fifteenth business delegation from Taiwan visiting India, he said, adding to the steady growth of the two nations’ commercial ties. Additionally, he listed a number of industries with substantial trade and investment possibilities, including electronics, auto components, machinery, food processing, and medical equipment.
The blossoming economic connection between Taiwan and India can be attributed to Taiwan’s acknowledgment of India as a critical partner under its ‘New Southbound Policy.’ Furthermore, a migration pact between the two nations permits Indian labourers to work in Taiwanese industry.
Vijay Kalantri, Chairman of WTC Mumbai, observed that the economic relationship between India and Taiwan is at a pivotal juncture. He mentioned significant developments such as the conferring of the Padma Bhushan award to the CEO of Foxconn, Mr. Young Liu, as a testament to the strengthening ties. Kalantri also highlighted plans by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Center (TECC) to establish a third office in India, signaling a commitment to expanding bilateral economic relations. He stressed the need to increase bilateral trade to USD 25 billion through investment and technology cooperation.
Kalantri recommended that Taiwanese companies invest in India and increase imports from India to address the current trade imbalance, where Taiwan exports USD 6 billion and imports only USD 2 billion from India out of the USD 8 billion bilateral trade.
Furthermore, he mentioned that WTC Mumbai and AIAI have led several trade delegations to Taiwan, focusing on sectors such as agriculture, water, and electronics. He expressed commitment to facilitating commercial partnerships in electronics, shipbuilding, and other mutual interest areas in the future.
Kalantri also proposed enhancing people-to-people contact by improving flight connectivity between the two countries, citing the current limited direct flights per week.
The Taiwanese business delegation comprised representatives from various sectors, including auto-components, medical devices, electronics, industrial machineries, processed food, printed circuit boards, steel, and laundry equipments.
