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“High Time” for India and Taiwan to Sign FTA, Says de Facto Ambassador

The Taiwanese representative to New Delhi said he believes that “now is high time” for the two sides “to engage in strategic collaboration.”

October 11, 2022
“High Time” for India and Taiwan to Sign FTA, Says de Facto Ambassador
Taiwan’s de facto ambassador to India, Baushuan Ger
IMAGE SOURCE: SATCOM INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION VIA TWITTER

Taiwan and India must sign a free trade agreement (FTA) as soon as possible, Taiwan’s de facto ambassador to India, Baushuan Ger, said on Monday.

In an interview with the Press Trust of India, Ambassador (Amb.) Baushuan said, “the signing of the FTA will further remove all trade and investment barriers and lead to a jump in bilateral trade and investment.”

“In addition, it will help attract Taiwan companies to invest in India to establish production bases, sell India-made products to the world, and help India transform into a global manufacturing centre,” he
added.

The Taiwanese representative said he believes that it is “high time” for the two sides “to engage in strategic collaboration, with enhancing trade and technology cooperation being one of the most feasible areas, to begin with.”

He added that their bilateral cooperation is a “gargantuan, untapped well of potential,” pointing in particular to the cyber, space, maritime, green energy, food security, tourism, and gastronomy sectors. “Other areas of potential cooperation include machine tools, photovoltaics, biotechnology, and pharmaceuticals. We are looking forward to strengthening cooperation with India in these areas for mutual benefits,” the ambassador went on to say.

The diplomat revealed that Taiwan is facing “an increasing domestic labour shortage” and is therefore “looking for a manufacturing partner.” “India has an abundant talent pool and will make a perfect partner for Taiwan,” he said.

Baushuan asserted the two countries are brought together by their shared concern about China, saying, “Both India and Taiwan are threatened by authoritarianism; hence, closer collaboration between the two is not only desirable but necessary,” referring to China’s increased military activities in the Taiwan Strait, East and South China Seas, Hong Kong, and the Galwan Valley along the Line of Actual Control with India.

Keeping this in mind, he said that India “is just like Taiwan… standing at the forefront in the face of aggressive and belligerent authoritarian regimes.” “We need to join hands to fend off the expansion of autocracy,” he thus underscored.

The diplomat went on to thank India for standing up for justice, peace, and stability in the Taiwan Strait, noting that Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy and India’s Act East initiative have been “instrumental” in deepening bilateral engagement.

He also accused critics of United States (US) House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s controversial visit to Taiwan in August of wrongly believing that Taiwan and the US were “provocateurs intending to change the status quo.” In this regard, Baushuan opined that it is good to see democracies like India no longer “passively observing” but “taking active measures” to counter “non-democratic and grey-zone tactics.”

Although India and Taiwan do share formal diplomatic ties, they engage in trade and people-to-people relations. In 1995, the Indian government set up the India-Taipei Association in Taipei to help promote interactions and facilitate business, tourism, and cultural exchanges. Taiwan reciprocated the gesture in the same year by establishing the Taipei Economic and Cultural Centre in New Delhi.

In fact, following India’s eastern Ladakh border tiff with China, some Indian experts have campaigned for upgrading New Delhi’s ties with Taipei, especially in the trade and investment sectors.

India and Taiwan started negotiating an FTA in December 2021. Talks are currently centred around building a semiconductor manufacturing facility in India. If it materialises, India will become Taiwan’s second-largest semiconductor manufacturing hub after the US. 

Bilateral trade has grown from $2 billion in 2006 to $7 billion in 2021, representing a 250% growth. Furthermore, FDI (foreign direct investment) inflows from the island increased almost ten-fold between 2017 and 2019.

India’s main commodity exports to Taiwan include unwrought zinc, motor vehicles, flour, meat pellets, oil seeds, and oleaginous fruits. Meanwhile, India imports electrical machinery, plastics, nuclear reactors, organic chemicals, iron, and steel from Taiwan.