Trade office, expo part of Taiwan bid to ramp up business with India

TAIPEI: It's the IPL season, and as you enter the Wankhede cricket stadium in Mumbai, you would least expect a foreign trade outfit like Taiwan Excellence to pitch its marketing tent, more so when the island nation has neither diplomatic nor deep trade relations with India.As for doing business, the cash-rich economy has been looking the other way, largely towards China, where a staggering 80,000 Taiwanese companies have set up shop. Back home, the number stands at 110.

James Huang, Chairman, Taiwan External Trade Development Council (Taitra) is candid about the grim state of trade ties. “We haven’t paid much attention to India so far,” he said, but quickly added, “India is emerging as an important market for us, as has been indicated in our latest foreign policy framework.”

India ranks 14th in exports for Taiwan, and its companies invested just $287 million since 2000 in India. Compared to the billions plonked down in other South Asian countries, India’s share appears negligible, but the operating point is the pace at which bilateral trade is growing—a healthy 27 per cent in FY17 ($6.3 billion) over the previous year and Taitra hopes to maintain the double-digit growth.

Undeniably, Taiwan is a late entrant, but officials are leaving no stone unturned to cover lost ground, including promotional activities like the pavilion at Wankhede Stadium. It opened its first trade office in Delhi last week and is holding its first Taiwan Expo next month in Delhi.Taiwan is known for its technological and manufacturing prowess, with dominant players like Foxconn and Acer having a foothold in all major economies. What’s little known is its robust small and mid-size industry focusing on sectors other than electronics, and over 100 such firms from the healthcare, food processing and auto components will be part of the expo.

Take Spring Pool Glass Industrial Co, which makes heat-resistant and sound-proof bricks out of recycled LCD screens! India’s burgeoning smartphone and plasma TV market presents an opportunity to source raw material and also promote its products. There are plenty others, such as flour mixer and noodle maker Kuo Chang Machinery, Hu Lane Associate Inc, specializing in electric vehicle components, dental implants firm Ti-Ho Healthcare Technology, and hair care brand O’right, which makes eco-friendly carbon-neutral hair care and styling products.

The common denominator is that they have set their sights on India to do business and their collective outlook has prompted the Taiwanese government to offer a helping hand. “We are considering developing industrial parks (including a petrochemical park) in India as part of the Make in India initiative,” Huang said, adding that Taiwan may even help produce electric vehicles.

All this goes on to show that there’s a strong desire to resume talks on a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with India which have remained in cold storage for eight years. But this isn’t an isolated case, as Taiwan lacks FTAs with most countries due to China’s insistence on a One-China policy. 

Policy wonks may say Taiwan’s attempts could upset China, but at least Huang and Taitra are clear in their thoughts: “Beijing may look at it from a political perspective, but I want to emphasize that our policy to engage with India has nothing to do with geopolitical considerations.”The writer was in Taipei on the invitation of Taitra