The Lithuanian parliament has approved laws to enable the establishment of trade offices in Taiwan and elsewhere, a government official said yesterday.
“Green light for Lithuanian #trade offices around the world! Today the #LT parliament has approved the laws that will enable the establishment of Lithuanian trade offices were [sic] we don’t have our diplomatic representation, including #Taiwan,” Lithuanian Minister of the Economy and Innovation Ausrine Armonaite wrote on Twitter.
For Lithuania, there are many unexplored opportunities in East and Southeast Asia, Armonaite said, adding that it is committed to developing trade and investment ties with Taiwan, Indonesia, Singapore, South Korea and other countries in the region.
The new laws would allow Lithuania to develop closer economic ties with advanced economies, while boosting cooperation in high technology and innovation, she said.
The Lithuanian government earlier this year said it planned to establish a trade office in Taiwan, which is expected to open by the end of the year.
In Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed the news.
The two countries would continue to deepen relations based on their shared values of protecting democracy, freedom and human rights, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said in a statement.
A delegation of Lithuanian lawmakers is to visit Taiwan in December.
Lithuanian Member of Parliament Matas Maldeikis, chairman of the Parliamentary Group for Relations with Taiwan, on Thursday replied to an invitation by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, saying he and other lawmakers would visit Taiwan in the first half of December.
The establishment of a Lithuanian trade office in Taipei is just the first step in Vilnius’ plan to boost relations with Taiwan, and it would greatly help both countries’ political and economic development, Maldeikis said.
DPP Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉), chairman of the Legislative Yuan’s friendship association with Baltic countries, invited the lawmakers.
Taiwan and Lithuania share common values in democracy and freedom against authoritarianism, Chiu said.
Hopefully, Taiwanese lawmakers would form a delegation to visit Lithuania after the pandemic subsides, he said.
Additional reporting by Lin Chia-nan
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
A magnitude 5.3 earthquake struck Kaohsiung at 1pm today, the Central Weather Administration said. The epicenter was in Jiasian District (甲仙), 72.1km north-northeast of Kaohsiung City Hall, at a depth of 7.8km, agency data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in Kaohsiung and Tainan, where it measured a 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale. It also measured a 3 in parts of Chiayi City, as well as Pingtung, Yunlin and Hualien counties, data showed.
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
RSS