Taiwan and India yesterday signed a new bilateral investment agreement (BIA) and a treaty to mutually recognize respective authorized economic operation (AEO) programs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, touting them as major achievements in the government’s New Southbound Policy.
The pacts were inked by Representative to India Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) and India-Taipei Association Director-General Sridharan Madhusudhanan, and witnessed by Minister of Economic Affairs Shen Jong-chin (沈榮津) and Deputy Minister of Finance Wu Tzu-hsin (吳自心) in Taipei.
While Taiwan and India had signed a BIA in 2002, which came into effect in 2005, a new agreement was signed to update it and ensure that Taiwanese businesspeople’s investments in India are treated in line with international standards, ministry Department of East Asian and Pacific Affairs Deputy Director-General Fan Hui-chun (范惠君) told a news conference in Taipei.
Photo: CNA
Given the expanding range of information and communication technology (ICT) investments, the BIA was revised after referencing the latest international investment agreements, Fan said.
“We believe [the new BIA] would help boost bilateral investments and be conducive to Taiwan’s ICT industry’s expansion to India,” Fan said, adding that the agreement includes indirect investments made by Taiwanese businesspeople from places like Vietnam and Singapore.
As the BIA is patterned after international standards, future business disputes will be dealt with by an impartial third party, sparing Taiwanese businesspeople the lengthy process of setting disputes in India’s legal system as they had to in the past, she said.
With regard to the AEO Mutual Recognition Agreement, Fan said that as India is one of Taiwan’s top 20 trading partners, the two nations have signed a customs mutual assistance agreement, a temporary admission pact, or ATA carnet, and an action plan to develop mutual recognition of AEO programs.
“Taiwan and Australia also have an AEO mutual recognition agreement that allows businesses from both sides to enjoy expedited customs clearance, which should help increase their competitiveness,” Fan said.
The signing of the two pacts not only lays a more solid foundation for deeper relations between Taiwan and India, but also opens a new page in trade and economic cooperation, she said.
‘LONE WOLF’: The suspect was difficult to locate, as he did not use a cellphone, did not contact family and often lived in abandoned sites or parks, police said Taipei police on Thursday morning arrested a man accused of numerous burglaries and at least 14 incidents of sexual assault spanning more than 20 years, in what might be the nation’s most notorious crime spree in recent years. Sixty-year-old Tu Ming-lang (涂明朗) — who was yesterday placed in judicial detention, after a judge determined he was a flight risk without a fixed address — faces multiple charges of sexual assault and burglary, police said. A task force comprised of various law enforcement agencies arrested Tu as part of an investigation into an April 28 burglary in Daan District (大安), in which a
Ninth graders were asked to define “trolling” on this year’s standardized exam, reflecting efforts to make the test better reflect real-life situations. Adjustments to this year’s Comprehensive Assessment Program for Junior High School Students were revealed on Sunday, after the last cohort of students completed the test over the weekend. The Ministry of Education solicited feedback about the test from teachers, who approved of the new question in the English portion. Not only was question No. 20 “very much in line with real-life situations,” but it also used a new style in which students were asked to ascertain the correct dictionary definition based
Taiwan is on alert for monkeypox, a rare viral disease that has caused 87 infections in 11 countries over the past three weeks, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said on Saturday. The WHO on Friday convened an emergency session to discuss a sudden outbreak of monkeypox in North America and Europe. Since the beginning of this month, 87 confirmed cases and 28 possible cases have been identified in 11 countries. The countries with the highest case counts are England with 29 cases, and Portugal and Spain with 23 each. Monkeypox is a viral zoonotic disease occurring primarily in the tropical rainforest areas
ADAPTING: The CECC said the policy change would happen this week at the earliest, while PCR testing stations would be used to diagnose people and prescribe drugs The general public would be able to use a positive rapid test result that has been confirmed by a doctor for COVID-19 diagnosis starting later this week at the soonest, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday, as it reported 79,441 new local infections and 53 deaths. The center on Saturday announced that it was expanding the rapid test diagnosis policy to people living in indigenous townships and outlying islands, starting today. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, yesterday said the policy might be further expanded to include “all people” this week, at the soonest. He