The Taiwan-India Cooperation Council (TICC), a private organization with participation from businesses, the government and academics, was established yesterday in Taipei, with Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chair-man Yu Shyi-kun elected as its first chairman.
The council aims to act as a bridge to promote economic exchanges and broader cooperation on bilateral interests between Taiwan and India.
Yu said that the council's founding grows out of the government's "Go South" policy, which was proposed during Yu's tenure as premier.
PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
The policy emphasizes India as an ideal investment destination for Taiwanese businesses and as a way to decrease their reliance on the China market alone.
"India is seen as having the best potential among the four golden `BRIC' [Brazil, Russia, India and China] countries. Besides, Taiwan and India's collaboration in software and hardware and India's overall economic takeoff will provide even more opportunities for Taiwan-India economic and trade cooperation," Yu said.
Yu said the idea to promote closer Taiwan-India exchanges is in line with the Indian government's "Look East policy," which overlaps with Taiwan's "Go South Policy."
Brigadier Arun Sahgal, the deputy director of India's United Service Institution, who formerly served in India's defense department, attended the council's founding ceremony yesterday. He said the council provides a channel for India to reach out to East Asia, a policy the Indian government has been working toward in recent years.
"India's `Look East Policy' engages mostly with Southeast Asia, but India is looking for much greater engagement with East Asia. It is in this context that our relationship with Taiwan is extremely important. We would like to use our new-found confidence and new-found economic development model to engage to a much greater degree with Taiwan," Sahgal said.
Commenting on the possibility of extending cooperation beyond economic matters, Sahgal said "as our economic interests in Taiwan increase, we'll be [more] interested and involved in the security and stability of the region."
Sahgal added that India would certainly pursue more strategic dialogue with Taiwan as its exchanges increase.
"Once we have the trade, we'll develop our interests in the security and safety of Taiwan to protect our own trade," he said.
Dilip Amarnani, a businessman and director of Taipei's Indian Overseas Compatriot Association, said yesterday that an important business opportunity that India offers, in contrast to China, is its strong middle-class market comprising 300 million citizens -- a convincing point for Taiwanese businesspeople, who wouldn't have to seek other export markets as much as they have to do with their operations in China.
"When the Taiwanese go to China, they are going to produce goods to export. You are not sure whether you'll find a market there. But in India, you already have a market within India itself. You don't have to look around for other markets," Amarnani said.
The amount of Taiwan-India bilateral trade reached US$1.93 billion in 2004, which is five times more than the 1990 bilateral trade figures.
The bilateral cooperation projects are mainly in the high-tech sector. There are now more than 1,000 Indian engineers in Taiwan.
VOTERS’ CHOICE: The DPP’s Chen and independent candidate Huang conceded defeat before 7:20pm, with Chiang pledging to remain humble and do his best Legislator Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) yesterday won the Taipei mayoral election, with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate defeating the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) pick, former minister of health and welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), and former Taipei deputy mayor Vivian Huang (黃珊珊), an independent. After polling stations closed at 4pm, the Taipei Election Commission issued a preliminary estimate that voter turnout in the city was about 64 percent, slightly lower than in 2018. Chiang, 43, is to be the youngest Taipei mayor ever, with the KMT regaining the capital after eight years. Chen had an exceptionally high national approval rating when he was head
A naval landing craft on Thursday sank near Kinmen County after wet weather and rough seas flooded its cabin, the Naval Fleet Command said. The vessel, called Landing Craft Mechanized 1326, had completed transport and replenishment missions in the county and was returning to Taiwan proper when surging waves flooded the cabin, the navy said in a statement. The craft’s five crew members tried to bail out the water to no avail, the Navy said. The landing craft eventually sank off Kinmen’s Liaoluo Bay (料羅灣) at 5:18pm, although all crew members rescued, it said, adding that the precise cause of the sinking
FAMILY BACKGROUND: Chiang was effective in running a cautious campaign to avoid making mistakes, waiting for other candidates to slip up, an analyst said Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei Mayor-elect Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) stood out among his rivals due to his energy, his die-hard supporters and his relative openness to discuss issues such as same-sex marriage, a political analyst said yesterday. Chiang’s campaign was also aided by his family’s background in politics, which helped him garner greater support in Taipei where there is a large KMT base, said the analyst, who chose to remain anonymous. “Chiang is also not a typical KMT member when it comes to certain issues, such as gay marriage, and his more open stance widened his support base — particularly among young
First-time politician Mai Yamada’s (山田摩衣) Japanese name has attracted attention in Chinese-language media after her win in the New Taipei City Council election on Saturday. Born to a Taiwanese mother and Japanese father, the 32-year-old Taiwanese-Japanese stood out after becoming one of nine elected city councilors in Banciao District (板橋) in the nation’s local government elections on Saturday. Although she has a Japanese name, she grew up and was educated in Taiwan, Yamada said, adding that “Taiwan is my home.” Before running for local government, Yamada, who speaks fluent Japanese and English, was Legislative Speaker You Si-kun’s (游錫堃) secretary. She has been involved in
RSS