Taiwan is and will be India's most trusted partner: Foxconn chief

Chip making giant Foxconn's chairman Young Liu on Friday expressed optimism about the direction of India's semiconductor roadmap and asserted that Taiwan is and will be India's most trusted and reliable partner.

While speaking at the SemiconIndia 2023 event in Gujarat's Gandhinagar, Liu said that building an ecosystem for chips in India is "for very brave".

"Where there is a will there's a way, I can feel the determination of the Indian government. I am very optimistic about the way India will be headed. PM Modi, once mentioned that IT stands for India and Taiwan. PM, Taiwan is and will be your most trusted and reliable partner. Let's do this together," he said while addressing the event.

He added that four of 10 hi-tech devices that are made globally are manufactured at Foxconn.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after inaugurating the second edition of the three-day event in Gujarat, said that semiconductor industry trusts India because of the country's ‘massive talent pool' and asserted that the India of the 21st century offers opportunities to everyone.

The prime minister also said that India is laying out a red carpet for the semiconductor industry. “India is ticking every checkbox of becoming a very good partner to the semiconductor industry. We laying out a red carpet for the semiconductor industry," he said.

"Semiconductor is like a mother industry. If you have it, you can have many other sectors. Semiconductors today are required from farm tractors to mobile phones, from cars to fridges," union IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said at the event.

The company, which is the world's largest contract electronics manufacturer based in Taiwan, had earlier expressed its plans to invest around $700 million in constructing a new plant in Karnataka which aims to boost the local production of Apple iPhone parts and solidify India's position as a manufacturing hub for Apple.

(With inputs from agencies)