Five days into what has been dubbed his first-culture oriented trip, Premier Yu Shyi-kun's 11-day journey to four of Taiwan's diplomatic allies in Central America has borne fruit.
According to Chairwoman of the Council for Cultural Affairs Tchen Yu-hsiu (
"In addition to inviting Haitian Culture Minister Lilas Desquiron to visit Taiwan in December, we encouraged Haitian artists to join our resident artist program," Tchen said.
"We're also looking forward to [implementing] the talent-cultivation programs on ceramics, china and other cultural and creative industries."
The 18-month cultivation program, Tchen said, will offer language and technical training to five local and 10 Central or Southern American artists between January 2004 and June 2005.
As for the second leg of the trip, Tchen said the cultural and sports exchanges between the two countries have been productive and will become more so in the future thanks to the signing of the agreement.
"We agree to let Panamanian artists join the residency program and the talent-cultivation programs in ceramics, china and other cultural industries," Tchen said. "We'd also like to see more exchanges in the performing arts."
Commenting on the state visit, Tchen said she has gained a lot from the trip.
"It's the first state trip that has focused on cultural exchange,"Tchen said.
"Most such trips are political, diplomatic or economic," she added.
"It's meaningful because it shows that politics and economics are not the only ways to strengthen diplomatic ties with our allies. Culture is also an important means."
What Taiwan can do for the four countries is offer experience in cultural management.
"They're so rich in culture and history that it's a waste to leave their culture and art poorly managed," she said.
The Taiwanese delegation was scheduled to visit the Panama Canal, a cultural village and the national theater on Saturday morning before leaving for Costa Rica in the afternoon.
RSS