On May 30, 2022, Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation (TAEF) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), India’s premier think tank, to embark on a partnership for joint collaboration between the two think tanks.
The virtual signing ceremony was presided by Dr. Hsin-Huang Michael Hsiao, Chairman of TAEF; Dr. Samir Saran, President of ORF; Dr. Alan Yang, Executive Director of TAEF; and Dr. Harsh V. Pant, Vice President of the Studies and Foreign Policy of the ORF.
In his introductory remarks, Dr. Pant laid out the TAEF-ORF joint action plan for research and outreach collaboration. Prof. Hsiao remarked that with India being one of Taiwan’s key partners under its New Southbound Policy, the joint efforts and collaboration between TAEF and ORF will further act as a bridge in building more robust Taiwan-India relations. Dr. Saran stressed in his remarks that it is important for Taiwan and India to partner closely, understand each other’s perspectives, be informed of mutual risks and opportunities, and ensure regional stability together through concrete exchanges. The signing of the ceremony was concluded with a vote of thanks by Dr. Alan Yang, who reiterated that the MoU will serve as another starting point for more promising Taiwan-India exchanges.
The major objective of the MoU is to promote joint collaboration between TAEF and ORF. As a part of the MoU, the two think tanks will jointly write two policy papers per year and conduct high-level annual Taiwan-India dialogues.
The MoU strengthens the efforts of both TAEF and ORF to steer well-informed policy-oriented academic discussions on Taiwan-India relations, and lead the debates by providing quality intellectual inputs on the subject.
About Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation
Founded in 2018, TAEF is the first Taiwanese policy think tank with a focus on Southeast Asian and South Asian affairs. In the spirit of Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy (NSP), the goal of TAEF is to help strengthen the comprehensive ties between Taiwan and the 10 ASEAN countries, India and other five South Asian countries, as well as Australia and New Zealand through collaboration and exchange among think tanks, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and young leaders. TAEF is devoted to consolidating a sense of regional community in Asia and establishing long-term cooperative partnerships among Asian societies. TAEF was selected as one of the world’s best new think tanks for three years in a row by the Global Go To Think Tank Index Report.
About Observer Research Foundation
ORF is India’s largest independent, non-profit, public policy think tank to facilitate policies for a sustainable and strong India in a prosperous and equitable world. It is the top-ranking Indian think tank in any global listing, taking 8th place in the Top Think Tanks Worldwide (Non-US) category and 24th place in the Top Think Tanks Worldwide (US and Non-US) category of the 2020 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report. The research activities of ORF cover a wide range of disciplines, including energy, climate change and sustainable development, strategic studies, economy and growth, technology and media, and political economy.
