Taiwan is pushing for a free trade agreement (FTA) with Malaysia in an attempt to further prop up substantive ties between the two countries, the nation's representative to Malaysia was quoted by the Malaysian National News Agency (MNNA) as saying yesterday.
Wu Wen-ya (吳文雅), head of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Malaysia, was quoted by MNNA as saying that two-way trade between Taiwan and Malaysia totaled US$6.5 billion last year, marking an increase of 22 percent over the year-earlier level.
Taiwanese investments in Malaysia over the years have exceeded US$9.5 billion, making Taiwan the third-largest source of foreign capital, second only to the US and Japan, Wu told the MNNA.
In addition, Wu said, the number of Malaysian students seeking to pursue advanced studies in Taiwan has reached 36,000, making the Malaysians the largest foreign student group in Taiwan. Currently, about 3,000 Taiwan students are studying in Malaysia and about 1,200 Malaysians seek to go to Taiwan to study every year.
Meanwhile, Chou Mei-fen (周美芬), a Malaysian vice minister of women, family and community development who studied in Taiwan, said she will push for closer cooperation between the ministry and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in efforts to allow the Malaysian government to recognize the academic degrees conferred to Malaysian students by institutes from Taiwan.
According to Chou, following the Malaysian government's recognition of degrees from six Taiwan medical schools for Malaysian graduates, the Malaysian Ministry of Health announced recently that Malaysian graduates from the Department of Pharmaceutics in three Taiwan universities can become pharmacists in Malaysia immediately after they return to Malaysia.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck Chiayi County at 4:37pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 36.3km southeast of Chiayi County Hall at a depth of 10.4km, CWA data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Chiayi County, Tainan and Kaohsiung on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Pingtung, Taitung, Hualien, Changhua, Nantou and Penghu counties, the data
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