Workers from India to pull Taiwan out of one of its worst labour crunches ever

Taiwan and India have signed a memorandum of understanding on migrant workers that is expected to lead to the South Asian nation becoming a source of labor for the island. 

Taiwan will control the number of Indian workers allowed in and the industries to be assigned, the labor ministry said in a statement on Friday. India has committed to recruiting and training the employees, according to the needs of Taiwan, according to the statement.

The ministry will formally notify lawmakers of the MOU and hold follow-up meetings with Indian officials, according to the statement. Taipei will declare India a new source of migrant labor when all preparatory work is in place, it said.

Taiwan’s aging society means it needs more workers, while in India, the economy isn’t growing fast enough to create enough jobs for the millions of young people who enter the labor market every year. Taiwan is projected to become a “super aged” society by 2025 with elderly people forecast to make up for more than a fifth of the population.

A small-scale pilot scheme will start first, and if that goes well more Indian workers will be allowed in, it added, without saying how many workers may eventually come only that the numbers would be decided by Taiwan.

Taiwan has previously denied reports that up to 1,00,000 Indian workers may be allowed in.

India, like most countries, has no formal ties with Chinese-claimed Taiwan, but there is a close business relationship with India wanting to encourage more Taiwanese tech companies to invest and manufacture in India.