The Ministry of Foreign Affairs plans to invite high-ranking Japanese officials to visit under the framework of the APEC forum since the Japanese government changed its regulations to allow senior officials to visit Taiwan, a ministry official said yesterday.
Last year, the Japanese government revised its restrictions on which officials could visit Taiwan, allowing individuals up to the post of division director to visit. This will allow the ministry to invite Japanese officials of a higher rank than had been previously allowed to visit.
The ministry believes that these Japanese officials can be invited to Taiwan to take part in APEC working-group meetings or forum meetings, said Chin Chen-yu (
Taiwan is scheduled to host nine APEC forums or working-group meetings this year.
These forums are: the APEC 2003 eLearning Summit, to be sponsored by the Ministry of Education from March 25 to March 26; the Steering Committee Meeting of APEC's Earthquake Response Cooperation Program on Energy Supply Systems-Phase 3, to be sponsored by the Ministry of Economic Affairs' (MOEA) Energy Commission in May; the Incubator Forum, to be sponsored by the MOEA's Small and Medium Enterprise Administration, in May or June; Toward a Cross-border Paperless Trading Environment -- Actions for Trade Facilitation, to be sponsored by the MOEA's Board of Foreign Trade, from June 24 to June 26; APEC Biotechnology Conference 2003, to be sponsored by the MOEA's Technology Transfer Service Center, on July 21; Control of Dengue Outbreaks Regional Cooperation Project, to be sponsored by the Center for Disease Control, in July or August; the APEC seminar on the Earthquake Disaster-Management of Energy Supply Systems, to be sponsored by the Energy Commission, in September; the Third APEC Workshop on Sustainable Agricultural Development and Technical Training, to be sponsored by the Council of Agriculture, in October; and the 2003 APEC Workshop on the Basel II Accord, to be sponsored by the Ministry of Finance, from Oct. 15 to Nov. 4.
Officials from all 21 APEC member economies will be invited to take part in the nine meetings and forums, Chin added.
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