Taiwan on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding to help the Kingdom of Eswatini, its only diplomatic ally in Africa, build an oil tank in the country.
Overseas Investment & Development Corp (OIDC, 海外投資開發股份有限公司) — a Taiwanese company focused on government aid projects overseas — has been contracted to build the strategic oil facility, Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) told reporters in Eswatini’s capital, Mbabane, after the memorandum of understanding was signed.
She did not go into detail, saying only that Eswatini had hoped to construct an oil tank that could store at least 30 days of oil reserves.
Photo: CNA
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), who is on a four-day visit to Eswatini, lauded the agreement as a milestone for relations between the two countries, the Presidential Office said in a news release.
Both sides have been in talks about the project for some time, she said during a meeting with Eswatini King Mswati III, adding that the planned facility would help ensure the African nation’s energy supply.
An Eswatini government Web site says the nation imports all of its oil from South Africa, leaving it susceptible to volatile international crude oil prices.
State oil company Eswatini National Petroleum Co (ENPC) has been mandated to build and operate oil reserve facilities as part of efforts to better ensure the nation’s oil supply.
Tuesday’s memorandum was signed by OIDC general manager Jeff Chung (鍾家富) and ENPC CEO Nhlanhla Dlamini.
OIDC was established in 1995 by state-run and private companies in Taiwan to undertake aid and infrastructure projects launched by the government in allied nations.
Officials at the ceremony also signed a deal to provide loans to female entrepreneurs in Eswatini and a sister-city agreement between Kaohsiung and Mbabane.
The financing agreement is part of a larger women’s empowerment project that Taiwan’s government launched in the African nation in 2020, Wang said.
As part of the project, the government has trained 5,000 Eswatini women in business and financial planning, she said.
Tsai also weighed in on the project, saying that she was glad that her government could fund the project and back women in Eswatini in the early phases of their businesses.
She also expressed hope that the sister-city agreement signed between Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) and Mbabane Mayor Vusi Tembe would facilitate more exchanges between the cities.
Chen told reporters after the ceremony that Kaohsiung was ready to share its experience with Mbabane in promoting information and communications technology, and facilitating the growth of small and medium-sized businesses.
Meanwhile, King Mswati III thanked Taiwan for continuing to support Eswatini’s development, adding that the three agreements marked an important step in the partnership between the two countries, the Presidential Office said.
The king, who has reigned over the last absolute monarchy in Africa since 1986, also encouraged more Taiwanese companies to invest in Eswatini, the office said.
RESILIENCE: Deepening bilateral cooperation would extend the peace sustained over the 45 years since the Taiwan Relations Act, Greene said Taiwan-US relations are built on deep economic ties and shared values, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Raymond Greene said yesterday, adding that strengthening supply chain security in critical industries, enhancing societal resilience through cooperation and deepening partnerships are key to ensuring peace and stability for Taiwan in the years ahead. Greene made the remarks at the National Security Youth Forum, organized by National Taiwan University’s National Security and Strategy Studies Institution in Taipei. In his address in Mandarin Chinese, Greene said the Taiwan-US relationship is built on deep economic ties and shared interests, and grows stronger through the enduring friendship between
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),
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
‘COMING MENACINGLY’: The CDC advised wearing a mask when visiting hospitals or long-term care centers, on public transportation and in crowded indoor venues Hospital visits for COVID-19 last week increased by 113 percent to 41,402, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, as it encouraged people to wear a mask in three public settings to prevent infection. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said weekly hospital visits for COVID-19 have been increasing for seven consecutive weeks, and 102 severe COVID-19 cases and 19 deaths were confirmed last week, both the highest weekly numbers this year. CDC physician Lee Tsung-han (李宗翰) said the youngest person hospitalized due to the disease this year was reported last week, a one-month-old baby, who does not
RSS