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A delegation from the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA), Taiwan visited the Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) on 20 September 2019. The delegation was led by Shih-Chung Liu, Vice-Chairman of TAITRA.

Dr Arvind Gupta delivered the opening remarks. He expounded on the growth trajectory of the Indian Economy wherein he highlighted that the Indian economy is poised to become a 5 trillion economy USD within next five years and a "new India" was on the threshold of sprinting forward. The ease of doing business in India has improved to 77th position. To supplement this growth trajectory, the government has started programmes such as Make in India, Digital India etc. There are many programmes started by the Indian Government to encourage foreign countries to invest in India as well. Foreign investors can approach the Indian states directly in India; Taiwanese companies should take advantage of this and bring in more investments in India. The upcoming science park in Bangalore is a good example of Taiwanese investment, it should be treated as a model for Taiwanese investment in India.

He further stated that Taiwanese companies should explore some new aspect of cooperation also. They should keep in mind the cooperation of economic security with that of political security. There are many grey areas where both countries can cooperate for example in the field of agriculture, Taiwan has achieved a considerable, sophistication especially in the food processing Industries. Artificial Intelligence, Nano Technology, Cloud Computing are some of the areas of cooperation. At the moment, there appears to be a desire from both the sides to expand the relationship. The trade has eventually increased to USD 7 billion, at present. In the past two years, there has been a lot of efforts from both sides but the major impediments is lack of awareness as well as understanding about India in Taiwan.

The Taiwanese delegation highlighted that TAITRA was trying to bridge the gap and making effort to enhance awareness in Taiwan. TAITRA has set up four new offices in India last year, in the four metros of Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai. The delegation highlighted the issue that at present, Taiwan is not the only country looking south under its New Southbound Policy, other countries in the region especially, Japan, South Korea and Australia are also looking southward and trying to make investments in India. Additionally, amidst the US-China trade friction, many Taiwanese companies are moving out of China and relocating to Vietnam. At present 112 companies are moving from China. The Taiwanese companies should consider India as their next stop destination and TAITRA is working diligently in this direction. Taiwanese companies are also looking forward to cooperation in Artificial Intelligence, 5G. The delegation was curious to know about the good starting point for entry in these sectors.

The Indian participant suggested that Invest India under the Taiwan Plus scheme helps Taiwanese companies to synergies and avenues of a partnership between India and Taiwanese Industries. The Taiwanese companies should make best use of this platform. The discussion concluded with an optimism that there is a vista of opportunity between both the sides to explore economic cooperation and engagements.