In a reception at the Italian Economic, Trade and Cultural Office in Taipei on Friday night, more than 300 guests and dignitaries raised champagne glasses in a toast to celebrate Italy’s national day.
In his address, Italian Representative to Taiwan Mario Palma said that although the global economic recession had put a strain on bilateral trade exchanges between Taiwan and Italy, “it seems that the worst is over.”
Palma praised the welfare systems in Taiwan and Europe, which he said have helped the public cope with the economic crisis.
He also expressed the hope that despite the economic situation, people would watch out for positive economic signals and trends, which would then lead to the expansion of trade ties between Taiwan and Italy.
Palma, who studied Chinese in Taiwan in 1996, lauded the close cultural relationship between the two countries, such as the participation of Taiwanese artists and architects in the Venice Biennale, as well as the invitation by the Kaohsiung Metro to Maestro Narcissus Quagliata to erect a Dome of Light at one of the stations.
He also thanked the Taiwanese government and Acer Inc, a Taiwan-based computer company, for offering assistance to earthquake victims in central Italy in April.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lin (林永樂) said at the function that bilateral trade last year reached more than US$4 billion, making Italy Taiwan’s fourth-largest trading partner in the EU.
Other substantive relations are also cordial and extensive, he said, citing the example of the signing by Taiwan’s Civil Aeronautics Administration and Italy’s National Civil Aviation Agency in April of a technical agreement on air transport services.
The agreement increases the number of flights between the two countries to seven per week, and adds a Taipei-Milan route to the existing Taipei-Rome route, Lin said.
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