Warm trade relations between Taiwan and India are helping to spur demand for corporate travel and business event exchanges. Taiwan is currently the 16th largest trading partner of India, and bilateral trade between the two countries stood at US$7 billion in 2018 – up 11 per cent year-on-year.
Trust Lin, director, Taiwan Tourism Bureau, Singapore Office, said “Business travel has grown between the two nations. At present there are about 41,000 visitors from India to Taiwan (out of) our total international arrival of 11 million. India arrivals are growing and we see a lot of incentive travel demand. Hyundai (in India) took an incentive group of more than 400 pax to Taiwan in April this year while Asus (in India) brought a group of more than 350 pax in May.” “Many Indian companies are also participating in tradeshows and exhibitions in Taiwan, such as Computex. Delegates stay on Taiwan for one or two nights after. Many companies that had participated in Taiwan exhibitions are also choosing to send their incentive groups to the destination,” he added. Fuelling business travel traffic from India to Taiwan is the latter’s New Southbound Policy, which provides subsidies, administrative assistance, souvenirs and more for incentive groups hailing from the 10 South-east Asian countries, six nations in South Asia, as well as Australia and New Zealand.
On the other hand, Taiwanese companies are also drawn to business events in India and efforts are underway to grow trade exchange. The second edition of the annual Taiwan Expo in May saw participation from 130 exhibitors showcasing their state-of-the-art products through 230 booths this year. The event in New Delhi was jointly organised by Taiwan’s Bureau of Foreign Trade and Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA). Earlier in January, the Vibrant Gujarat summit featured six companies from Taiwan – said to be the largest national delegation at the event. A total of 20 trade and investment promotion events by TAITRA will take place in India this year.
Taiwanese companies are expected to invest about US$500 million in India by the end of 2019. “The events we organised here have helped to educate Indian participants about Taiwan. They then choose to visit Taiwan for business and leisure. A lot of large Indian companies such as Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Group as well as Indian SMEs are participating in events in Taiwan. Shows related to food, electronics and automobile are popular among Indian delegates,” said Walter Yeh, president of TAITRA.
