Explainer: Why Taiwan is setting up another TECC in India

The Taipei Economic and Cultural Centre (TECC) in Mumbai aligns with Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy, which seeks to enhance cooperation and exchanges with countries in Southeast Asia, South Asia, and the Pacific. -- Writes ETV Bharat's Aroonim Bhuyan.

New Delhi: In a bid to further boost trade and investment ties with India, Taiwan announced on Wednesday that it will open a new Taipei Economic and Cultural Centre (TECC) in Mumbai after those in New Delhi and Chennai.

“In recent years, cooperation between the Republic of China (Taiwan) and the Republic of India has witnessed significant progress in numerous domains, including economics and trade, science and technology, critical supply chains, culture, education, and traditional medicine,” Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. “In light of this development, the R.O.C. (Taiwan) government will establish the Taipei Economic and Cultural Center (TECC) in Mumbai in order to further deepen exchanges and cooperation between the two countries.”

Since New Delhi and Taipei do not share formal diplomatic ties, Taiwan does not have an embassy or consulate in India. Instead, the TECC serves as a representative office of Taiwan. India is a major focus area of Taiwan’s new foreign policy, dubbed the New Southbound Policy, adopted in 2016. According to this policy of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, the East Asian island nation is striving to broaden exchanges and cooperation with India and five South Asian nations, the 10 member-states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and Australia and New Zealand in areas such as commerce, culture and technology.

This will mean lesser dependence on mainland China for Taiwan's economic development. Taiwan is the world’s 22nd largest economy and was dubbed one of the four Asian tigers in the late 20th century, the others being Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea. Since the TECC in Chennai was set up in 2012, nearly 60 percent of all Taiwanese businesses investing and opening factories in India have chosen to develop their operations in southern India, according to Wednesday’s ministry statement.

“Chennai and its surrounding areas have thus benefited from the investments made by Taiwanese manufacturing industries. The establishment of the TECC in Mumbai is expected to have a similar effect in Western India,” it stated. According to the statement, the TECC in Mumbai will help expand mutually beneficial trade and investment opportunities between Taiwan and India.

“Under Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy, it will also promote exchanges and cooperation in science and technology, education, culture, and people-to-people ties between Taiwan and Western India,” it stated. “Furthermore, the TECC in Mumbai will provide visa services, document authentication, and emergency assistance to businesspeople, tourists, and Taiwanese nationals in the states of Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh, as well as the union territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.”

It added that the TECC in Mumbai will work in close coordination with the TECC in New Delhi and the TECC in Chennai to offer quality services to Taiwanese nationals and overseas compatriots. Trade volume between India and Taiwan reached $8.5 billion in 2022. India is the 17th largest trade partner of Taiwan.

However, according to Jules Shih, Director of the Taiwan World Trade Centre Chennai, trade volume between the two countries will increase approximately by 50 percent in the next three years and reach $13 billion.

Speaking at a session on trade, investment and opportunities in Taiwan and south India held in Chennai last month, Simon Lee, President of the Taiwan Chamber of Commerce in Chennai, said that the investments will mainly be in the electronics and non-leather footwear sectors over the next three years.

“Investors in Taiwan are looking at India as bright future in the next 10 to 15 years,” Lee was quoted as saying. “India will be a manufacturing hub of the world.” India and Taiwan had signed a bilateral investment agreement (BIA) in 2002, which came into effect in 2005. An updated BIA was signed by the two sides in December 2018.

India is among the 179 of the 193 member states of the UN that do not maintain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Recent disputes with China have compelled New Delhi to revisit Beijing’s ‘One China Policy’ and there has been a growing sentiment in India that it should establish closer ties with Taiwan.

As a part of its Act East Policy, India has sought to cultivate extensive ties with Taiwan in trade and investment as well as developing cooperation in science and technology, environmental issues and people-to-people exchanges.

Last month, during an interaction with an international media group, Taiwanese Foreign Minister Jaushieh Joseph Wu said that Taiwan has an “enormous appetite” for expanding ties with India and finalise a proposed free trade agreement between the two sides. "Our trade relations have been picking up steam. The Taiwanese investors are hungry for India and the semiconductor cooperation between Taiwan and India is being blessed by the top leadership of the two countries," Wu was quoted as saying.

He said that Taiwanese businessmen are no longer finding the Chinese market profitable and Taipei will continue to encourage them to invest in India.