Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday arrived in Tel Aviv for a four-day visit and was scheduled to make his first stop at an Israeli company developing automatic guided vehicles.
Before boarding his flight from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Saturday evening, Ko said he was visiting Israel to honor an invitation by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs to attend the 33rd annual International Mayors’ Conference.
Ko said he wanted to visit the company because Israel is famous for its robust ventures and start-ups, adding that he would also visit the Weizmann Institute of Science, which is similar to Academia Sinica.
Photo: CNA
The Israeli institute has six Nobel Prize laureate members, Ko said, adding that it is impressive that Israel, which has a population of about 9 million, has several Nobel Prize winners.
He said he was more interested in visiting the research institute because he is a university professor.
Ko is scheduled to visit Mobileye NV in Jerusalem, attend the conference’s opening ceremony and a dinner event in the evening, and attend a moonlight tour of the old city, accompanied by Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion.
He would also meet with Israeli lawmakers and has especially asked to meet those familiar with national defense policies, the Taipei City Government said.
Separately yesterday, Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) left for Kuala Lumpur on a five-day visit to Malaysia and Singapore to promote the city’s agricultural products and tourist attractions.
It is Han’s first official overseas visit since his victory in the local elections in November last year, which ended the Democratic Progressive Party’s 20-year governance of the city and delivered it to the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
Before departing from Taoyuan airport, Han said that he would focus on seeking distribution channels and orders for Kaohsiung’s farm and fishery products, adding that he also hopes to convey the message that “Kaohsiung is opening its arms to all cities, nations and territories” of the world.
He plans to meet with Taiwanese expats and entrepreneurs in Malaysia and Singapore, and “introduce the new and vibrant Kaohsiung to them,” he added.
Meanwhile, former New Taipei City mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫), who is seeking the KMT’s nomination in next year’s presidential election, returned home yesterday after concluding an eight-day visit to Silicon Valley in California.
Upon his arrival at Taoyuan airport, Chu said that he visited 13 major enterprises with links to Taiwan’s new economy, and met with Taiwanese entrepreneurs, engineers, students, high-tech professionals and compatriots in Silicon Valley.
His visits and meetings were aimed at finding a new direction to boost Taiwan’s economy, he said.
He also visited Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley, Chu said.
At Stanford, he delivered a speech on developing Taiwan’s new economy, which refers to new, high-growth industries that are on the cutting edge of technology and are the driving force of economic growth, he said.
In his speech, he explained his plan to drive the nation’s economy by using “three engines” — the start-up economy, the cultural economy and the living economy — Chu said.
In terms of promoting the start-up economy, Chu expressed the hope that the movement of talent, technology and capital in Taiwan will be as free as in Silicon Valley.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
Taiwan is to have nine extended holidays next year, led by a nine-day Lunar New Year break, the Cabinet announced yesterday. The nine-day Lunar New Year holiday next year matches the length of this year’s holiday, which featured six extended holidays. The increase in extended holidays is due to the Act on the Implementation of Commemorative and Festival Holidays (紀念日及節日實施條例), which was passed early last month with support from the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party. Under the new act, the day before Lunar New Year’s Eve is also a national holiday, and Labor Day would no longer be limited
COMMITMENTS: The company had a relatively low renewable ratio at 56 percent and did not have any goal to achieve 100 percent renewable energy, the report said Pegatron Corp ranked the lowest among five major final assembly suppliers in progressing toward Apple Inc’s commitment to be 100 percent carbon neutral by 2030, a Greenpeace East Asia report said yesterday. While Apple has set the goal of using 100 percent renewable energy across its entire business, supply chain and product lifecycle by 2030, carbon emissions from electronics manufacturing are rising globally due to increased energy consumption, it said. Given that carbon emissions from its supply chain accounted for more than half of its total emissions last year, Greenpeace East Asia evaluated the green transition performance of Apple’s five largest final
Taiwan is to extend its visa-waiver program for Philippine passport holders for another year, starting on Aug. 1, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said on Friday. Lin made the announcement during a reception in Taipei marking the 127th anniversary of Philippine independence and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) in Taiwan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The decision reflected Taiwan’s commitment to deepening exchanges with the Philippines, the statement cited Lin as saying, adding that it was a key partner under the New Southbound Policy launched in 2016. Lin also expressed hope
RSS