India and Taiwan have developed close relations in recent years, particularly with respect to trade. The bilateral trade volume has reached US$ 6.3 billion in 2017, making Taiwan India’s 18th largest trade partner in the world.
-By Baishakhi Dutta
To strengthen the existing relation further, in a few weeks of time, for the first time the Indo Taiwan Expo is scheduled to take place in the national capital of India. With this year’s theme “Connect Taiwan, Connect the world”, the expo will be based on current industry developments and market needs and will feature 6 major verticals namely – smart cities, electric vehicles, green tech, healthcare, tourism and lifestyle Taiwan.
In a recent press conference, Walter M.S.Yeh, president and CEO of TAITRA was optimist about India being one of the fastest growing economy in the world and that India is Taiwan’s one of the closest partner in terms of economic relationships.
Commenting on the upcoming expo Yeh said, “This event is designed in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s economic policy and is going to be a milestone in further strengthening India-Taiwan partnership and create a win-win business opportunity”.
He further said, “We are just getting started because India has a bright economic future. There is immense potential for expanding Indo-Taiwan co-operation and make Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘Make in India’ come true”. He believes India is making incredible economic progress and Taiwan can greatly contribute to this progress by working together and creating world’s great manufacturing center here in India.
Som Mittal, chairman of FICCI Electronics & White Goods Manufacturing Committee believes that Taiwan has been playing a leading role in electronics manufacturing, R&D, product chain with immense efficiency. He further opined that the electronics market is growing very rapidly and from $70 billion a few years back, it is projected to grow into a $400 billion industry by 2023.
“The current growth rate of 24 percent is not going to take us to where our ambitions are. Therefore, events like the Taiwan Expo is going to help us in gain exposure in the global market and at the same time help our economy grow”, said Mittal.
Supporting Mittal’s view further, Champak Raj Gurjar, president, Federation of all India IT Associations (FAIITA) expressed his excitement of Taiwan trade bodies coming to India for proliferation of business opportunities.
Industry veterans are being very much optimistic on the upcoming event and supporting the zeal further Prof. N K Goyal, president of CMAI Association of India stated that India has much to learn from Taiwan. He further said, “After having internal discussion on the Taiwan proposal, we have decided for ourselves a target of US$10 billion trading by 2020 and at least 10 MoUs to be signed during the expo next month. We are quiet hopeful of achieving the said target”.
Apart from having 3 offices in India, yesterday evening TAITRA inaugurated their fourth office in New Delhi as a symbol of their expanding commitment towards India and to bring in newer investment opportunities in the country.
