Taiwan has an "enormous appetite" to expand ties with India and is encouraging its companies to set up manufacturing bases in India as it is now a "rising power" and has been witnessing rapid economic growth. This sentiment was expressed by Foreign Minister Jaushieh Joseph Wu in an interaction with an international media group. He said the proposed free trade agreement between the two sides will be a "big encouragement" for Taiwanese companies as it will remove barriers to greater trade and investment ties.

Taiwan produces over close to 70% of the world's semiconductors and over 90% of the most advanced chips that are required for almost all electronic equipment such as smartphones, car components, data centres, fighter jets and AI technologies. India has been very keen on having a manufacturing facility for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (TSMC), the world's largest chipmaker whose clients included Apple. The Taiwanese Foreign Minister said Taipei has conveyed to New Delhi that the time has come for launching the FTA negotiations. The two sides have already conducted studies for the FTA and held preliminary discussions for the pact.

The FTA will be a "big encouragement" for our companies to set up manufacturing bases in India as the trade pact would provide relief on tariffs on various aspects including on bringing various equipment and related materials to the country, Wu said. "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," he said.

Taiwan wants to be able to stand up to the threat of the Chinese military and Beijing's economic coercion and it needs international support for it. Mr. Wu said Taipei will continue to engage with the world to draw more global support, especially from federal democracies. He said India is a rising power and Taiwan has been encouraging its companies to invest in India."What we see is a very prosperous future bilateral relations between India and Taiwan and we will continue to work hard to strengthen it further," he said. Complimenting India on its success in the space sector, Mr Wu said Taipei is seeking cooperation with New Delhi on it.

He said Taiwanese people are fascinated by Indian movies and Taipei is keen to strengthen ties with India in areas of trade and investment, people-to-people connections and cultural ties. Mr. Wu also identified parliamentary engagement between the two sides as a priority for Taipei, saying "We hope there is more government-to-government interaction with each other. So far there are limited interactions. We hope that we can break some barriers in order to have better political ties with each other."

India does not have formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan but both sides have trade and people-to-people relations. Following the eastern Ladakh border row with China, some experts in India have been pushing for upgrading New Delhi's ties with Taipei, especially in the trade and investment sectors. Taiwan has expressed its willingness to cooperate with India in this regard.