Taiwan asks India to make investor-friendly policies

New Delhi, May 12: Taiwan today urged India to devise investor-friendly policies to woo investors and ensure their participation in the growth process that the country has embarked upon.

Addressing a seminar on 'Investment&Trade' organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) here, Taiwanese Administrative Vice Minister for Economic Affairs Shih Yen-Shiang said, ''India had emerged as the fastest growing economies of the region.'' With the abundant supply of cheap labour, establishment of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and a liberal tax regime, India would be able to attract investors across a range of sectors including machinery and auto parts, accessories, textiles, chemicals, hardware, agriculture and allied sectors, Mr Yen-Shiang said.

Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) Secretary Dr Ajay Dua, on the other hand, invited Taiwanese business to cash in on the comparative advantages offered by the Indian economy in terms of the huge market of 300 billion middle class, a young and cheap labour force, easy availability of domestic capital and a customs duty regime that would be on par with ASEAN levels of 6 per cent in the next two to three years.

He urged potential investors to seriously look at hardware manufacturing in the ICT sector and forge joint ventures in the SEZs around the country, and added that the e-biz (electronic business) programme of the department would be operational in the next 2-3 days, enabling electronic filing in a single form of the 20-odd permissions required for setting up businesses.

JBC India-Taiwan Chairman Vikram Kapur said, the potential areas for increasing investment in India from Taiwan include, synergies in traditional sectors like electronics, textiles, drugs and pharmaceuticals.

The new economy also beckons us to forge immediate connectivities to the rapidly changing world of telecom, IT and the entire gamut of knowledge-based industries. ''We also hope that Taiwan will permit more imports and collaborations of agricultural, pharma, biotechnology and high-end textiles products from India,'' he said.

Sectoral presentations were made on the Indian investment climate in auto components by ACMA (Northern Region) Chairman Arvind Kapur, in food processing by APEDA Secretary R P Gautam, and in textiles by Indo Rama Synthetics (I) Ltd GM S N Ravindranath.

UNI