Taiwan signs migrant worker MoU with India, seen as new source of labour

By Subhadip Sircar

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.