By Kaushal Verma

New Delhi [India], September 17 (ANI): The bilateral trade between India and Taiwan is expected to grow to a new record level of around $12 billion in the 2025 calendar year, according to Yu-Chi Chen, Executive Director of the Economic Division, Taipei Economic and Cultural Center in India.

Speaking with ANI on the sidelines of the Taiwan Expo 2025 in New Delhi on Wednesday, Yu-Chi said, 'In recent years, after the pandemic, the bilateral trade with India has been growing every year. In 2024, we will have a record high bilateral trade of more than $10 billion between India and Taiwan. This year, from January to August, is already $8 billion from the bilateral trade.'

She noted that Taiwan-India bilateral trade reached a record high of $10.6 billion in 2024, demonstrating strong momentum in economic cooperation.

Meanwhile, the number of Taiwanese enterprises investing in India has surged more than threefold compared to 2017, now exceeding 250 companies. This reflects the deepening integration of the Taiwan-India industrial value chain and the growing commitment of Taiwanese businesses to the Indian market.

'It (bilateral trade between India and Taiwan) is expected that this year, we might break the record again. It is quite positive,' she said, adding that it means that not only Taiwanese companies but also Indian companies will look forward to expanding and cooperating more.

Talking on the necessity of Free Trade Agreements between both countries, she hoped that in the future, Taiwan and India would have an FTA.

FTA is always beneficial because it comes first, and later, there will be investments. To do the trade, it's more important that the most critical issue the company faces is the tariff.

'We urge that to have FTA between India and Taiwan, that's not only India lowering the tariff because in the process of India will do the Make in India, Indian machinery, Indian material, and Indian intermediate goods,' she said.

Lower tariffs or an FTA will help in decreasing the cost of production and help boost trade, she said.

'All these things, if we have an FTA and use very low tariffs, that's also lower down the cost of Indian companies, then you can have more competitive to completely other partners globally,' Chen said, adding that 'We hope that in the future Taiwan and India have the FTA.'

Speaking on the significance of the Taiwan Expo in augmenting trade and commerce between the two countries, Chen said that the Taiwan Expo in India provides a very good platform for trade and direct engagement with companies from both India and Taiwan.

This expo is very important because both countries have cultural differences. And geography is also distant. It's 4,000 kilometres away, she said.

Therefore, it will be a very good opportunity for TAITRA to organise this event and invite Taiwan companies to visit for three days for interaction and engagement with Indian companies.

'They can see products directly. We are here to sell. We are also looking for partners. This is also a very important step for building trust,' Chen added. (ANI)