Geopolitical tensions between India and China are beginning to hurt some of Taiwan’s biggest technology companies, including suppliers to Apple Inc, and hindering New Delhi’s much-vaunted incentive program for electronics manufacturing.
India has been slow to issue visas to Chinese engineers, who are needed to help Taiwanese companies set up factories in the South Asian nation, people with knowledge of the matter said on condition of anonymity.
India is also nudging companies to opt for employment permits, which are more difficult to obtain, they added.
Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA-EFE
The wrangling might delay Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plan to bolster India’s manufacturing capacity and deter overseas investors, who invested US$30 billion in the six months to September last year, with the maximum foreign direct investment flowing in the computer hardware and software sector.
The companies are looking to India to diversify their supply chains.
Modi has banned hundreds of Chinese apps and slowed approvals for Chinese investment after a deadly clash along the disputed border between the two neighbors.
Last year, companies such as iPhone assemblers — Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), known internationally as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團); Pegatron Corp (和碩); and Wistron Corp (緯創) — along with many others pledged US$1.5 billion to set up mobile phone plants in India after the Modi government offered them specially designed incentives to manufacture their products locally for global export.
The move was also expected to shift supply lines to India from China.
Apart from delays in granting visas, the Indian government has indicated a preference for issuing employment visas instead of business visas for people required to set up the production lines that are being imported by companies, the people said.
Employment visas typically require more paperwork and background checks from the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs, and could therefore be the reason for India’s insistence. Business visas also have a shorter duration.
Companies have balked at the employment permits because it increases costs. It also leads to double taxation for engineers and technicians, as they continue to be employed by their respective companies in China.
Skilled professionals and experts are also needed for training and guidance on machines that are being installed for the first time in the country, along with specialists to monitor the entire process.
The development comes at a time when New Delhi is under pressure to boost growth in Asia’s third-largest economy, which is set for its worst annual contraction since 1952 with millions losing their jobs and being pushed into poverty due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The incentive program for mobile makers alone envisages the production of 10.5 trillion rupees (US$145.5 billion) of smartphones and exports of 6.5 trillion rupees over the next five years. It is likely to create more than 800,000 jobs.
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Hua Chunying (華春瑩) yesterday said that she was not aware of visa delays by India for Chinese engineers, and referred questions to the Indian authorities.
Asked whether Indian workers faced delays coming to China, she said that Beijing is “flexibly adjusting” its border entry measures.
“We are willing to uphold an orderly flow of personnel,” she said.
Citigroup Inc plans to exit retail banking in 13 markets across Asia, and the region of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The bank would instead operate its consumer-banking franchise in both regions from four wealth centers in Singapore, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates and London, it said yesterday in a statement. The move is part of an ongoing review of the company’s strategy by chief executive officer Jane Fraser, who took over last month. “This positions us to capture the strong growth and attractive returns the wealth-management business offers through these important hubs,” Fraser said. Citigroup is to exit its consumer
CONFIDENTIAL: The trip had not been made public until just before ex-senator Chris Dodd, and ex-state department officials Richard Armitage and James Steinberg arrived The government yesterday welcomed an “unofficial” delegation sent by US President Joe Biden, while another delegation led by US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry was headed to Shanghai. Biden’s first delegation to Taiwan is made up of former US senator Chris Dodd, and former US deputy secretaries of state Richard Armitage and James Steinberg. They are to stay in Taiwan until tomorrow. Their arrival, on a chartered flight, had been kept confidential until media reported the visit yesterday morning, after which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a short notice that they were expected to arrive at 2:40pm. The flight landed at
MORE TRUSTWORTHY? While officials investigate whether the shelf life of AstraZeneca vaccines can be extended, the Moderna jab might boost inoculations Shipments of Moderna COVID-19 vaccines are due to arrive in Taiwan next month, while another batch of AstraZeneca vaccines allotted to Taiwan under the COVAX program is due to arrive by June, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday. The Chinese-language Apple Daily reported that the Moderna vaccines might arrive at the end of this month or next month. The center in February said that Moderna had agreed to supply about 5 million doses to Taiwan, although at the time the center estimated that they would arrive in the middle of this year. Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥),
‘IDEAL FIT’: A report on Sunday said that the Canadian government threatened to pull its support and funding from the HFX if the award was given to the president The government would respect the decision of the organizer of the John McCain Prize for Leadership in Public Service on whether it plans to award a prize to President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. The statement was issued after US Web site Politico reported a day earlier that the Canadian government had warned the Halifax International Security Forum (HFX) not to give the award to Tsai for fear of provoking Beijing. “The ministry believes that if the Halifax International Security Forum confers the prize upon President Tsai, it would be an affirmation and honor for both
RSS