TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – As a trade war rages between the United States and China, Taiwanese businesses should consider India as a destination for investment, a Taiwanese trade official said during a news conference in New Delhi on Friday (September 20).

Over the next 20 or 30 years, Taiwanese businesses should focus on setting up shop in India, TAITRA Vice Chairman Liu Shih-chung (劉世忠) and Taiwan’s representative in India Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) told Indian media, CNA reported.

Tien estimated the likely Taiwanese investment in India over the coming years at more than US$10 billion (NT$310 billion), according to CNA.

Rising wages and stricter environmental regulations in China, in addition to U.S. tariffs on Chinese products, were factors which moved Taiwanese investors to look for new destinations, Liu said, naming Southeast Asia and India as their favorite choices.

The TAITRA official also explained the Taiwanese government’s New Southbound Policy, which since 2016 has aimed at expanding ties with Southeast and South Asian nations, including India, in a wide range of fields, from trade and investment to tourism and education.

Electric vehicles, artificial intelligence, and recyclable energy sources were the main areas Taiwanese investors would be looking at in India, Liu said.

He gave a negative answer to reporters asking whether Taiwanese investors would return to China if its trade war with the U.S. ended or if the Taiwanese elected a different government next January.

However, Taiwanese manufacturers of computers and smartphones might not close down the Chinese factories they have been using for decades, but they might be looking for additional countries, such as India, to add new production units, Liu said.