Visiting Tuvaluan Speaker of Parliament Samuelu Penitala Teo yesterday praised Taiwan’s development, saying “we feel very much at home.”
Speaking upon his arrival at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at about 6am, Teo said he has visited Taiwan nearly 10 times, but this was his first as speaker.
He praised Taiwan, saying it is one of the world’s top countries in terms of development, not only of its economy, but also in different sectors of life.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs via CNA
During their trip, which ends on Thursday, his delegation would visit “some of the industrial places that are of interest to us in Tuvalu, which we could easily adapt to and improve our living standards in Tuvalu by copying what Taiwan’s example has done,” Teo said.
The 12-member delegation was welcomed by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) at the airport.
“I thank you very much for meeting the delegation and making necessary arrangements for the delegation,” Teo said. “We feel very much at home.”
Teo is the highest-ranking Tuvaluan official to visit Taiwan since Tuvaluan Prime Minister Kausea Natano’s trip in September last year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a news release.
Teo is to sign a joint statement with Legislative Speaker You Si-kun (游錫?) declaring that Tuvalu and Taiwan would continue to deepen bilateral ties through parliamentary exchanges, the ministry said.
The delegation is also to meet Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) and attend a banquet hosted by Tien, it said.
The group is to visit food processing and fishery facilities, as well as the headquarters of the government-funded International Cooperation and Development Fund responsible for foreign aid, the ministry said.
Tuvalu is one of four countries in the South Pacific that have diplomatic relations with Taiwan, having established ties in 1979.
Since then, the two countries have maintained a close and fruitful partnership, collaborating in areas such as infrastructure, healthcare, clean energy, information and communication services, education, agriculture, fisheries and advancing women’s rights, the ministry said.
Paraguayan Chamber of Deputies President Carlos Maria Lopez also arrived in Taiwan for a five-day visit yesterday, and is scheduled to meet with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) today, the Presidential Office said.
Lopez supported Taiwan during heightened cross-strait tensions in August last year, when China initiated live-fire military exercises in areas around the nation, Presidential Office spokesman Xavier Chang (張惇涵) said in a news release.
Calling the South American nation a staunch ally, Chang lauded solid ties and parliamentarian exchanges between both countries, which established formal diplomatic relations in 1957.
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