Bureau of Foreign Trade (MOEA) and Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) have jointly announced the opening of third edition of ‘Taiwan Expo’ today in Taiwan. The expo will continue till 18th December 2020. This first Virtual Taiwan Expo is live-streaming now.
The opening ceremony was also attended by Dr. Guann-Jyh Lee, Deputy Director General, Bureau of Foreign Trade, co-organizer of Taiwan Expo, Mr. Gourangalal Das, Director General of India-Taipei Association; Mr. Chung-Kwang Tien, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and formerRepresentative of Taipei Economic and Cultural Center in India; Shri Ajay Prakash Sawhney, Secretary of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Mr. Rajesh Agrawal, Executive Director of India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO); and Mr. Deepak Bagla, Managing Director & CEO of Invest India.
As the host of the event, Mr. James C. F. Huang, Chairman of TAITRA, emphasized upon how 2020 forever changes human history, making an unprecedented impact on global economy and said,
“Our plans, laid out by the Act East Policy and the New Southbound Policy, are highly complementary: to increase economic and cultural exchange, and to develop long-term, sustained prosperity. The success of the 2018 and 2019 Taiwan Expos in India proved that India-Taiwan partnership can be highly fruitful. And this year, the unexpected COVID-19 pandemic has only further highlighted the importance of our partnership.
It is foreseeable that in the coming years, India and Taiwan, two technology powerhouses and natural economic partners, will unlock the vast potential of the Indian economy in all areas, including manufacturing, medicine, and technology.”
Furthermore he shared, “Earlier this year, we helped to connect over 10,000 Indian health and medical professionals with Taiwan’s leading medical providers to share and exchange anti-COVID experience, knowledge and resources through online seminars and meetings.
As we continue to fight to end the pandemic, Taiwan is also continuing to contribute to the fight by providing world-class medical supplies, rapid test kits, and very soon, vaccines. And of course, Taiwan is eager to partner up with India to put an end to this pandemic for good.”
He also shared a story of how a Taiwanese businesswoman starts her enterprise in India with the help of “mentors” who share their invaluable insights. The story is published by TAITRA as a comic book, titled “An Incredible Journey to India”.
Furthermore over the next 3 days, Taiwan Expo will be hosting over 650 meetings to connect 270 companies (150 from India, 120 from Taiwan) to explore win-win business opportunities of the future.
Mr. Baoshuan Ger, the de facto ambassador of Taiwan to India, congratulated the Bureau of Foreign Trade and TAITRA for launching yet another Taiwan Expo in India, and is looking forward to seeing more interactions and cooperation between the two parties after this year’s Taiwan Expo.
He said, “Taiwan Expo in India has proved to be a very useful platform for the Indian and Taiwanese business communities to engage with each other. This year, the online exhibition will provide the opportunities for suppliers to connect with buyers. Trade and investments are complimentary. With a sizeable domestic market and a large, young and talented work force, India has been very proactive in seeking global partners to join its ‘Make in India’ policy and we believe Taiwan is an ideal candidate to work with.”
He further shared, “Taiwanese enterprise have especially further seen the potential of India as an investment destination after the Government of India launched a couple of new incentives that will help to attract further foreign direct investments in India. We therefore expect to see more Taiwanese enterprises to expand their investments in India in the years ahead which will certainly be conducive to more bilateral trade between our two sides.”
In recent years, India has been calling for like-minded partner countries to join the visionary ‘Make in India’ initiative launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and TAITRA has answered the call by organizing Taiwan Expo in India annually since 2018.
The expo not only introduces Taiwan’s latest industry solutions and offers that meet the goals of the Make in India initiative, it also generates new opportunities for cooperation that enhance Taiwan-India trade and friendship. Previous editions of Taiwan Expo India have been extremely successful and received much positive feedback.
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s Taiwan Expo is being transformed into an online event. The Expo features around 120 exhibitors across six categories: Medical & Health Care, Lifestyles & Beauty, Charming Formosa, Premium Selection, Precision Industry, and Smart Tech. Through this online platform, TAITRA aims to present even more of the latest technologies and cutting-edge solutions from Taiwan companies.
Taiwan, whose reputation and expertise in semiconductor, information industries, and steel and heavy manufacturing are globally recognized, is the ideal candidate to work together with India to help progress in these fields. Moreover, Taiwanese enterprises have further seen the potential of the Indian market, especially after the announcement of incentives such as Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, Scheme for Promotion of Manufacturing of Electronic Components and Semiconductors (SPECS), and Modified Electronics Manufacturing Clusters (EMC 2.0).
As a concrete example of this deepening partnership, the bilateral trade between India and Taiwan exceeds US$ 7 billion in 2018, indicating a year-on-year growth surpassing 25%. Regarding investment, an increasing number of Taiwanese enterprises, such as Foxconn, Wistron, Pegatron, Teco, and Delta Electronics, are planning to expand their investments in India.
This year, Taitra has enabled a special virtual reality (VR) tour on the homepage of Taiwan Expo, giving visitors the feel of actually arriving at the exhibition hall and browsing through the product area. All products will be exhibited in 3D VR, and there will be more than 100 virtual booths. Each booth represents each companies’ virtual identity.
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