The Taipei Economic and Cultural Centre in India (TECCI) opened Taiwan’s third mission in the country, in Mumbai on Wednesday.
Speaking on the occasion, Ambassador Baushuan Ger said "Taiwan’s flagship New Southbound Policy to engage our 18 partner countries in Southeast Asia and South Asia, India is our priority. With our joint efforts, the bilateral trade between Taiwan and India increased from USD 5 billion in 2016 to USD 8.2 billion in 2023. India stands as Taiwan’s 16th largest trading partner. More than 260 Taiwanese companies have set up their operation in India. They have invested USD 5 billion cumulatively and created over 170,000 employment opportunities.
"In 2016, the year we launched the New Southbound Policy to focus on people to people engagements, we established only one Taiwan Education Center in Chennai with the aim to create a Mandarin-speaking talent pool locally to play a critical role in helping Taiwan’s SMEs to enter and invest in India. Now in 2024, we have set up 37 Taiwan Education Centers with over 14,000 university and school students enrolled to learn Mandarin," the envoy added.
"The opening of the third Mission of Taiwan in India tonight will surely add momentum to this already very cordial relations between our two sides and will especially boost cooperation between Taiwan and Maharashtra and the neighboring states in west India in the years ahead," Ambassador Ger said.
"Like President Lai Ching-te of Taiwan emphasized in his National Day Address on October 10 this year, “In the fast changing international landscape, Taiwan is a force for regional peace, stability and prosperity. Taiwan will more vigorously develop its five trusted sectors, namely semiconductors, AI, defense, security and surveillance and next generation communications and help expand their global presence,” he said.
"Taiwan sees India a trusted friend and partner. We look forward to working closely with our Indian partners on developing or enhancing many of the industrial sectors mentioned by President Lai. Through this new office in Mumbai, we will together join hands to bring Taiwan-India cooperation to new heights," Ambassador Ger concluded.
Taiwan and India established representations, namely India-Taipei Association in Taipei and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Center in New Delhi in the year 1995. The two offices have served as platforms for various collaborations between the two countries, mainly on trade and investment, education and culture as well as science and technology.
TECCI set up its second mission in Chennai in 2012. Since then Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh have benefited tremendously and attracted huge Taiwanese investment, especially some key manufacturing industries to their shore. Up to now, more than 60% of Taiwanese investment has concentrated in those four southern states.
