Academics see diplomatic role for Taiwan's NGOs

A group of academics yesterday urged non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Taiwan to establish more links with their counterparts around the world in order to help the nation on the diplomatic front.

The academics made the appeal at a symposium held at National Sun Yat-sen University (中山大學) in Kaohsiung on the links between Taiwan's NGOs and international cooperation.

Government officials, university professors from around Taiwan as well as graduate students from National Sun Yat-sen University attended the event.

Lin Te-chang (林德昌), head of National Sun Yat-sen University's NGO research center, who presided over the symposium, said Taiwan boasts many such organization. He said NGOs which are dedicated exclusively to humanitarianism, including the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation, World Vision Taiwan, the Taiwan Root Medical Peace Corps and the Eden Social Welfare Foundation, can think up ways to help the government enter global organizations after implementing their world development cooperation projects.

Liu Jung-Tzuo, director-general of the Economic and Trade Affairs Department under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), stressed that the DPP-led government attaches more importance to democracy, human rights and humanitarian care, citing as an example the fact that the number of agricultural, fishing and medical experts that it has dispatched abroad exceeds 260.

Liu said that based on the principle of sharing its economic and political development experiences with its diplomatic allies, Taiwan has assisted Paraguay, Panama and Costa Rica in setting up export processing zones, although only the one in Costa Rica is operating smoothly while the other two have failed.

The MOFA official added that the government also launched a program to invite Central and South American young entrepreneurs to come to Taiwan to receive training in how to start their own businesses.