Reema Lokesh – Mumbai
With an aim to strengthen both trade and tourism between India and Taiwan, Taiwan’s Taipei Economic and Cultural Center in India will participate for the first time at Vibrant Gujarat 2015. The country will showcase the best that it has on offer both in tourism and trade. From electronics, to food products to showcasing its tourism products, there will be a dedicated Taiwan pavilion at the Vibrant Gujarat summit 2015. With a population of approximately 23 million and 75 per cent Buddhists in the country, Taiwan is keen to explore India’s Buddhist sites, which in turn will encourage two way traffic between the countries. In an exclusive with Express TravelWorld, ambassador of Taiwan in India Chung Kwang Tien, representative, Taipei Economic and Cultural Center in India, mentioned, “We are happy to partner with India to promote Buddhist tourism in our country. We have many connections with India due to Buddhism and Taiwan also has a lot to offer to Indian tourists. As I always mention, Taiwan is a five in one destination, as its food, culture, safety, scenery and its people are very special. We have a number of USPs and we are waiting for Indian tourists to explore our land. We conduct regular roadshows through our representative office in India and we are definitely planning to increase our focus towards the India market.”
Taiwan will also make its presence felt at IIT Mumbai’s special event Mood Indigo. Performers from the international group U Theatre will perform at Mood Indigo this year on their invitation. Apart from culture and performing arts, the country is also working on strengthening ties in the educational space. The Taiwan government is providing scholarships to Indians for further studies and the country has also established Chinese language training centres at JNU, IIT Madras, AMITY, Jindal Global University. Further, Indians who hold a valid visa for Japan, UK, USA and Shenzhen visa can easily avail a visa for Taiwan. Taiwan also hopes that India will reciprocate in a similar way by easing out visa procedures for inbound into India.