Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te

The Chairman of the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA), James Chih-Fang Huang, has expressed strong optimism about advancing economic ties between India and Taiwan through a potential Free Trade Agreement (FTA). Speaking at the Taiwan Expo 2025 in New Delhi, Huang positioned India as a key pillar of Taiwan’s export and investment strategy, praising India’s rapid economic growth and rising importance in global trade.

Huang noted that India has become one of Taiwan’s most significant export destinations, with consistent growth in trade volumes. He emphasised that Taiwan does not expand its exports indiscriminately, but only to select priority partners, and India has now emerged as one of the foremost among them. With India being the fourth-largest economy in the world, Huang projected that bilateral trade between India and Taiwan could double within the next five to six years, provided an FTA framework supports greater engagement.

He stressed that Taiwanese companies are actively looking at India for investments, partnerships, and trade collaborations. A formalized FTA, he argued, would incentivize more Taiwanese firms to establish a footprint in India, boosting manufacturing and technology transfer while complementing India’s "Make in India" and "Atmanirbhar Bharat" initiatives.

Echoing this outlook, Benjamin Lin, President of Delta Electronics India, a leading Taiwanese multinational specializing in energy-efficient solutions, announced the launch of a new manufacturing site in Tamil Nadu. Lin mentioned that government support will continue to guide investments in India, although favorable policy responses will be closely monitored before further expansion plans.

Reinforcing the broader trade momentum, Yu-Chi Chen, Executive Director of the Economic Division at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Centre in India, highlighted the robust growth trajectory of bilateral commerce. She revealed that trade volumes had consistently risen each year since the pandemic. In 2024, India-Taiwan trade hit a record high of USD 10.6 billion, surpassing all previous benchmarks.

Chen added that from January to August 2025 alone, trade had already touched USD 8 billion, positioning both countries to surpass last year’s record by the end of the current calendar year. This reflects an intensification of economic engagement across sectors ranging from electronics and semiconductors to renewable energy and industrial manufacturing.

Taken together, these developments underline a clear trajectory of strengthening India-Taiwan economic relations. The enthusiasm expressed by Taiwanese trade leadership and industries signals a strong appetite for deeper integration, with the possibility of a Free Trade Agreement acting as a major catalyst for expanded cooperation, new investments, and enhanced bilateral growth.