Indians arrive to court investors, forge alliances

A group representing the Indian Merchant's Chamber (IMC) arrived Sunday to expand procurements from Taiwan, woo Taiwanese in-vestors and look into the feasibility of creating business alliances.

The IMC, established in 1907, is one of the most influential trade organizations in India. It has more than 5,000 member companies, said Chao Yuen-chuan (趙永全), secretary-general of the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA).

In addition to promoting trade exchanges, the IMC group is also in Taipei to invite Taiwanese companies to take part in the 2005 Asia-Pacific Chamber of Commerce Conference -- the Indian Expo.

According to Chao, two-way trade between Taiwan and India has grown by leaps and bounds in recent years, with figures for the first 10 months of this year surging nearly 30 percent over the corresponding period of the previous year. Two-way trade is expected to top US$17 billion for this year.

Business between the two countries are expected to grow even closer in the years to come if more companies from the two sides forge strategic business alliances, Chao said.

Vijav Gokhale, chairman of the India-Taipei Association, said that many big-name Taiwan companies, particularly electronics and computer-makers, have made successful inroads into the huge Indian market in recent years.

Taiwanese are promising to gain an even bigger foothold in the Indian market after many improvements have been made in streamlining cross-border trade paperwork and airlines and cargo transportation, Gokhale said.