Taiwan has struck a deal with Ivory Coast to reopen its representative office there, after the mission became inactive in 2017, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, confirming foreign media reports.
The Ivory Coast-based news site La Diplomatique d’Abidjan broke the story on Friday in a report saying that the two countries’ officials had reached an agreement for Taiwan’s mission to be opened in Abidjan, the economic capital of the West African country.
The mission’s reactivation would be a boon to Ivory Coast’s economy, the report said.
Photo: Reuters
The ministry said that the two countries had earlier in the day signed an agreement in which the Taiwan mission would immediately resume operations to facilitate bilateral trade and personnel exchanges.
With an area of 320,000 km2, Ivory Coast has a population of nearly 26 million people.
Its economy is also the fastest-growing in Africa, with GDP growth of 7.4 percent in 2017 and 6.9 percent in 2018, the ministry said, citing World Bank data.
It is rich in natural resources, including cocoa, coffee, oil and gold, making the country a springboard for Taiwanese business ventures throughout the region, the ministry said.
Taiwan and Ivory Coast have complementary economies, and significant economic benefits could be had if the two countries collaborate in manufacturing, agriculture, auto parts production, construction and logistics, it said.
The trade talks resulting in the Taiwanese mission’s return began when a delegation from Taiwan arrived in the West African country three days ago, La Diplomatique d’Abidjan reported.
The delegation included Taiwanese officials and 10 business leaders who held a series of talks with Ivorian entrepreneurs on possible cooperation in the areas of infrastructure, pharmaceuticals, and goods and services, the report said.
Taiwan is interested in bolstering economic ties with Ivory Coast in all kinds of industries, the outlet cited Sun Chieh-fu (孫杰夫), deputy director of the New Taipei City-based Chinese International Economic Cooperation Association, as saying.
Ivorian businesses are heartened by the reopening of the Taiwan representative office and look forward to collaborating in the areas of tourism, telecommunications, manufacturing, finances and human resources, Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Ivory Coast chairman Famaman Toure said.
NETWORK-MAPPING PROJECT: The database contains 170 detailed files of Taiwanese politicians and about 23 million records of household registration data in Taiwan China has developed a network-mapping project targeting political figures and parties in Taiwan to monitor public opinion during elections and to craft tailored influence campaigns aimed at dividing Taiwanese society, according to documents leaked by Chinese technology firm GoLaxy (中科天璣). The documents, collected by Taipei-based Doublethink Lab, showed a database was specifically created to gather detailed information on Taiwanese political figures, including their political affiliations, job histories, birthplaces, residences, education, religion and a brief biography about them. Several notable Taiwanese politicians are in the database, including President William Lai (賴清德), former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍),
RECOGNITION: Former Fijian prime minister Mahendra Chaudhry said that Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy serves as a stabilizing force in the Indo-Pacific region Taiwan can lead the unification of the Chinese people, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former Polish president Lech Walesa said in Taipei yesterday, adding that as the world order is changing, peaceful discussion would find good solutions, and that the use of force and coercion would always fail. Walesa made the remarks during his keynote address at a luncheon of the Yushan Forum in Taipei, titled “Indo-Pacific Partnership Prospects: Taiwan’s Values, Technology and Resilience,” organized by the Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Walesa said that he had been at the forefront of a big peaceful revolution and “if
North Korea tested nuclear-capable rocket launchers, state media reported yesterday, a day after Seoul detected the launch of about 10 ballistic missiles. The test comes after South Korean and US forces launched their springtime military drills, due to run until Thursday. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Saturday oversaw the testing of the multiple rocket launcher system (MRLS), the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said. The test involved 12 600mm-caliber ultra-precision multiple rocket launchers and two artillery companies, it said. Kim said the drill gave Pyongyang’s enemies, within the 420km striking range, a sense of “uneasiness” and “a deep understanding
North Korea yesterday fired about 10 ballistic missiles to the sea toward Japan, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, days after Pyongyang warned of “terrible consequences” over ongoing South Korea-US military drills. Pyongyang recently dashed hopes of a diplomatic thaw with Seoul, Washington’s security ally, describing its latest peace efforts as a “clumsy, deceptive farce.” Seoul’s military detected “around 10 ballistic missiles launched from the Sunan area in North Korea toward the East Sea [Sea of Japan] at around 1:20pm,” JCS said in a statement, referring to South Korea’s name for the body of water. The missiles
RSS