China's Stance Can Help India Get More Investments From Taiwanese Companies: Official

Tensions between China and Taiwan can help India attract investments from companies from the island nation, a senior official said on Wednesday.

However, the official complained that the current import duties levied by India are very high and need to be cut, and pitched for a free-trade agreement between the two countries to help on this aspect.

Taiwanese companies which have manufacturing bases in China are looking at diversifying their bases to countries like Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines and also India because of the geopolitical issues, Estela Chen, an executive director of the economic division of Taipei Economic and Culture Centre, told PTI.

"A lot of Taiwanese companies, are looking for another base outside of China. They may maintain their base in China but they still need to look for others as a backup," she said.

It can be noted that over the last few months, ties between China and Taiwan, the relatively smaller island nation in the Pacific Ocean located in close proximity, have soured with belligerent acts and comments from either side.

Speaking days after a controversy triggered by Taiwanese company Foxconn's move to have a USD 19 billion project in Gujarat, Chen said the decision was the “individual decision” of the joint venture in which local company Vedanta is also a partner.

She said Maharashtra possesses a slew of advantages like port connectivity and will continue to attract investments.

The presence of semiconductor and fab manufacturing in an area will lead to the entire supply chain in the sector coming over to a particular area, she said.

The official entrusted with growing the Indo-Taiwan trade said the present import duties go as high as 30 per cent and stressed the need for an FTA. The same subject has been taken up with Indian officials, she said.

In 2021, the bilateral trade between the two countries had stood at USD 7.7 billion and was balanced in favour of Taiwan, she said.

The partnership between the two countries is one of the complementarities, where Taiwan can get the hardware and India has its strengths in the software, she said.