For a golden decade, ‘Design in Taiwan, Make in Tamil Nadu’, suggests diplomat

CHENNAI: More than 350 Taiwanese companies have invested in India, two-thirds of them in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, creating more than 2,00,000 jobs, and the in just the first eight months of the year, the bilateral trade between India and Taiwan had already crossed last year’s total figure, said Hsu Shu-chih, Director-General, Taipei Economic and Cultural.

Addressing the guests at the National Day Reception of the Republic of China (Taiwan) in Chennai on October 6, India’s Act East Policy and Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy are complementary to each other, bringing both countries as important partners in both diplomatic and economic engagement in the Indo-Pacific region.

“Taiwan’s strengths in semiconductors, information and communications technology (ICT), artificial intelligence (AI), advanced manufacturing, and green-energy technologies complement India’s strengths in talent, market size, and manufacturing capabilities. By working together, Taiwan and India can build stronger and more resilient supply chains,” he added.

Tamil Nadu has received substantial investments from Taiwanese companies, including by global behemoths like Foxconn, Pegatron, and Wistron in ICT sector; footwear majors Feng Tay, Pou Chen, and Evervan Group, to name a few.

Pointing out the trade ties that the Southeast Asian country and the south Indian State have built over the years, Director-General Hsu reiterated his vision to make the coming years as the golden decade of Taiwan-Tamil Nadu relations: “Design from Taiwan, Make in Tamil Nadu.”

S Vijayakumar, the head of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Branch Secretariat in Chennai, who was the chief guest at the event noted that the bilateral relations between Taiwan and India have grown steadily in recent years, with economic and trade exchanges showing particularly significant progress.

The official emphasized that India's Act East Policy seeks to create greater synergies in areas including the economy, technology, green energy, supply chains, and talent exchanges. “India hopes to engage in broad-based cooperation with Taiwan through the Act East Policy and jointly build more resilient and competitive industrial and supply-chain partnerships,” Vijayakumar added.

He also noted that Tamil Nadu enjoyed highly favorable conditions for development and said that he had personally witnessed the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Chennai's active efforts to promote exchanges in talent and other fields with stakeholders across the State, and assured support for D-G Hsu’s "Design from Taiwan, Make in Tamil Nadu" vision.