Taiwan and the US are to hold their second economic partnership dialogue tomorrow to forge closer bilateral ties, the US Department of State said on Friday.
The department said in a statement that US Undersecretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment Jose Fernandez would lead the US at the dialogue, known as the US-Taiwan Economic Prosperity Partnership Dialogue.
The second round of the dialogue would be conducted under the auspices of the American Institute in Taiwan and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) in the US, the department said.
Photo: Tyrone Siu, Reuters
“Our partnership is built on strong two-way trade and investment, people-to-people ties, and in common defense of freedom and shared democratic values,” the statement said.
Representative to the US Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said that as the dialogue would be conducted virtually, no Taiwanese delegation would be visiting Washington.
In Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement yesterday that Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) and Minister of Science and Technology Wu Tsung-tsong (吳政忠) would lead the Taiwanese delegation, with other foreign ministry officials also attending.
The dialogue would focus on a broad range of topics, such as the global supply chain, 5G connectivity, cybersecurity, and science and technology, it said.
The first round of the dialogue was held in Washington in November last year, with Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Chen Chern-chyi (陳政祺) leading a Taiwanese delegation to the US, while another team led by Minister Without Portfolio John Deng (鄧振中) joined from Taipei for virtual discussions.
The US team was led by then-US undersecretary of state for economic growth, energy and the environment Keith Krach.
TECRO said on Friday that tomorrow’s dialogue would be meaningful for the two sides to boost their economic cooperation as they aim to bolster their partnership amid an economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Taiwan hopes the two sides will work more closely in areas that would benefit them both and help them facilitate prosperity, security and a good future for people from both sides, it added.
The dialogue is the highest-level mechanism for Taiwan-US economic exchanges and cooperation.
EUROPEAN TARGETS: The planned Munich center would support TSMC’s European customers to design high-performance, energy-efficient chips, an executive said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said that it plans to launch a new research-and-development (R&D) center in Munich, Germany, next quarter to assist customers with chip design. TSMC Europe president Paul de Bot made the announcement during a technology symposium in Amsterdam on Tuesday, the chipmaker said. The new Munich center would be the firm’s first chip designing center in Europe, it said. The chipmaker has set up a major R&D center at its base of operations in Hsinchu and plans to create a new one in the US to provide services for major US customers,
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday said that it would redesign the written portion of the driver’s license exam to make it more rigorous. “We hope that the exam can assess drivers’ understanding of traffic rules, particularly those who take the driver’s license test for the first time. In the past, drivers only needed to cram a book of test questions to pass the written exam,” Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told a news conference at the Taoyuan Motor Vehicle Office. “In the future, they would not be able to pass the test unless they study traffic regulations
GAINING STEAM: The scheme initially failed to gather much attention, with only 188 cards issued in its first year, but gained popularity amid the COVID-19 pandemic Applications for the Employment Gold Card have increased in the past few years, with the card having been issued to a total of 13,191 people from 101 countries since its introduction in 2018, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday. Those who have received the card have included celebrities, such as former NBA star Dwight Howard and Australian-South Korean cheerleader Dahye Lee, the NDC said. The four-in-one Employment Gold Card combines a work permit, resident visa, Alien Resident Certificate (ARC) and re-entry permit. It was first introduced in February 2018 through the Act Governing Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及雇用法),
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying