Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had fun trying out software to help students learn Chinese while visiting the Taiwan pavilion during the 16th World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT) at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Center on Monday.
Badawi, as a head of the host country, paid a visit to the Taiwan booth after the formal opening of the exhibition.
He scored an 80 out of 100 for his pronunciation of ni hao (你好), or “hello” in Chinese, after a crash course in using software that recognizes the pronunciation of Chinese words.
On the same occasion, Johnsee Lee (李鍾熙), head of the Taiwanese delegation and president of Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), gave Badawi a gold foil replica of an ancient Chinese painting from the National Palace Museum.
During his visit, Badawi also listened to a pre-recorded speech delivered by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).
Ma offered his greetings to all participants and delegates from more than 60 WCIT member countries and emphasized Taiwan’s role in the global information and communications technology (ICT) industry, while expressing the hope of forging alliances with ICT industries in other countries.
Also on Monday, George Newstrom, chairman of the World Information Technology and Services Alliance, extended his congratulations to Ma on his election and called him a “friend of WCIT.”
The Taiwan pavilion, showcasing the latest state-of-the-art ICT applications under the theme of Smart Living, is a collaborative effort among ITRI, Institute for Information Industry, and Chunghwa Telecom (中華電信).
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