Taiwan and India are exploring a deal to facilitate the migration of Indian workers to address labor shortages in key sectors of the East Asian island region, a Sept. 27 report said, citing people privy to the development.

The pact could be signed as early as early next month, the sources said Hindustan Timesadding that a draft Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was finalized following negotiations between the two sides.

Taipei is seeking New Delhi to address labor shortages in key sectors such as manufacturing, including factories, construction projects, domestic workers, and agriculture and fishing, the sources said.

The draft MoU was yet to be published. However, people familiar with the negotiations told the newspaper that Taiwan was interested in facilitating the migration of workers from northeast India because of similarities in culture and diet.

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In particular, foreign workers in Taiwan are entitled to the same wages as local workers and also receive similar national health facilities. Currently, the monthly minimum wage in Taiwan is 26,400 New Taiwan dollars, which is equivalent to $820.

In addition to discussing the MoU on migration and mobility, an MoU on traditional medicine was signed at the recent meeting between Taiwan Prime Minister Chen Chien-jen and India Taipei Association Director General Manharsinh Laxmanbhai Yadav.

In a press release from Taipei last month, Yadav was quoted as saying that the MoUs and Taiwan’s recent move to set up a diplomatic office in Mumbai were “good steps and show that there is great potential in India-Taiwan relations.”

The progress in ties between New Delhi and Taipei comes at a time when India is still mired in a border dispute along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh with China. Beijing, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, has regularly expressed concerns about countries developing their ties with the island region.