Taipei, April 27 (CNA) It is time for Taiwanese businesses to invest in India and learn more about the country, experts and officials said Thursday in a wide-ranging forum that discussed Taiwan-India trade exchanges.
"If you don't invest now, somebody else will, " said Gopal Srinivasan, Director of TVS Electronics Ltd., in the two-day forum titled "Seize the India Trend: International Forum on Taiwan-India Commercial Exchanges."
Taiwanese businesses can duplicate their success in the 1990s in China in India, which is regarded as the next "world factory" after China and one of the fastest-emerging economies in the world, said Vijay Gokhale, Director-General of India-Taipei Association, India's de facto embassy in Taiwan.
Gokhale said Taiwan's "Go South Policy" and India's "Look East Policy" are a perfect match as Taiwan looks to shake off its economic dependency on China while India is trying to bring in foreign investment.
It makes no sense that Taiwan's trade with India is less than 1 percent of its total trade, while its trade with China, the United States, Japan and the European Union -- the other four of the world's five largest economies -- all exceeded 10 percent, said Yu Shyi-kun, chairman of the Taiwan-India Cooperation Council (TICC).
"The reason for Taiwan to increase investment in India is not just for its cheap labor. It's for the excellent brains of the Indian work force, " said Ko Chen-en, president of Chung-hua Institution for Economic Research.
And it is better to invest in India sooner than later, since Japanese and Korean corporations such as Suzuki, Samsung, Hyundai Motors and LG Electronics have all made their moves and have enjoyed relative success, Srinivasan noted.
Stan Shih, founder of the Acer Group said in a keynote speech that "Taiwan is developing its knowledge economy and business innovation, both of which need a large-scale market to be successful."
TICC, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Taiwan ThinkTank organized the forum, which is being attended by more than 200 government officials, business representatives and scholars from India and Taiwan.
A total of 10 speeches covering areas such as auto components, textiles, medical services and electronics will be held Friday, following seven topical lectures delivered on the first day.