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Taiwan's MOEA Signs MOU with Standard Chartered to Boost Bilateral Trade

2014/06/16 | By Steve Chuang

To boost bilateral trade between Taiwan and India, Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) signed a new memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Standard Chartered Bank (Taiwan), to take advantage of the bank's established connection with the South Asian country to help Taiwanese firms explore the developing market with over 1.2 billion people and a growing middle class.

MOEA noted that the MOU is seen by the government to allow Taiwanese companies operating in India easier access to financial, legal and tax services through Standard Chartered Bank, helping facilitate investment by Taiwanese firms in the country while attracting Indian investors to Taiwan.

With India being one of the BRIC countries and one of fastest-emerging economies in the world, Standard Chartered commented that it looks forward to helping enhance Taiwan-India trade, which will enable Taiwanese firms to boost presence in the South Asian and Southeast Asian market.

Meanwhile, S.C. Cho, Taiwan's Deputy Economic Minister, revealed at the MOU signing ceremony that Taiwan and India have begun negotiations on jointly setting up a task force engaged in forging an economic cooperation agreement (ECA).

Cho indicated that the both sides already finished a feasibility study for the ECA at the end of last year, showing that the two countries still have ample room to develop bilateral trade and investments, which is especially significant when Taiwan's trade with India doesn't keep pace with India's strong economic growth driven largely by a large population and ample natural resources.

In addition to the ECA, Cho said, Taiwan and India have also discussed the feasibility of signing a BIA (Bilateral Investment Agreement) and TIFA (Trade and Investment Framework Agreement), and the possibility of enhancing bilateral exchanges in ICT (information and communication technology), food processing, machine tool and photovoltaic industries.

Taiwan and India's growing intention to reinforce bilateral economic cooperation is  also reflected in the upcoming governmental activities, including a reciprocal meeting between deputy economic ministers in Taipei in August, and a delegation of high-ranking Taiwanese officials to India in September. (SC)