Taiwan’s Caribbean allies are showing a strong presence at the annual Taipei International Travel Fair (ITF) this week, hoping to persuade Taiwanese to visit their countries now that they no longer face COVID-19 quarantine requirements upon their return.
The four-day fair opened with 30,572 visitors on Friday, and since then there has been interest at the booths of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), Saint Lucia, and Saint Kitts and Nevis.
Saint Vincent Ambassador to Taiwan Andrea Bowman said that participation at the travel fair is crucial to the mission of her embassy in Taipei.
Photo courtesy of the Embassy of the Republic of China (Taiwan) in SVG
“Our embassy has to ensure that SVG is seen, heard and understood in Taiwan. Once this awareness takes place, avenues for trade, travel and the full range of economic and social interaction will develop,” Bowman said.
Citing its long unbroken diplomatic relations, Bowman said every Saint Vincentian at home and abroad knows about Taiwan.
“Suffice it to say that we welcome as many Taiwanese as possible to experience the warmth, vibrancy and freshness of a country which has had unbroken diplomatic relations with Taiwan for 41 years,” Bowman said.
“Taiwanese are invited to visit friends who have been loyal and unshaken,” she added.
Saint Lucian Ambassador to Taiwan Robert Lewis said his embassy is the only representative office for the government and people of Saint Lucia in the greater Asian region.
“It is very opportune for us to display to the people of Taiwan and others in these countries what Saint Lucia has to offer,” he said.
Although Taiwan is not a major source market for tourism to Saint Lucia, Lewis said the effort to attract Taiwanese visitors is important.
“If the citizens of Taiwan begin to travel to Saint Lucia in any regular manner, then we are certain that more and more will go because of the warm hospitality of the Saint Lucian people, and the extraordinary beauty that nature has endowed on Saint Lucia,” Lewis said.
Saint Kitts and Nevis Ambassador Donya Francis said his staff always avail themselves to show others the beauty and culture of his country with the hopes of attracting visitors.
“We would like everyone to venture deeper in Saint Kitts and Nevis and experience our beauty, our culture, our multiple fun activities and the warmth and love of the people,” said Francis, who holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Taiwanese universities.
His embassy is also going to meet with travel agencies to create tour packages, as many Taiwanese travelers enjoy traveling in groups, he said.
The ITF is being held until tomorrow at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, featuring exhibitors from 71 countries and cities around the world, spread across 1,200 booths.
It is the first international tourism fair in Taiwan since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Many Japanese couples are coming to Taiwan to obtain donated sperm or eggs for fertility treatment due to conservatism in their home country, Taiwan’s high standards and low costs, doctors said. One in every six couples in Japan is receiving infertility treatment, Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare data show. About 70,000 children are born in Japan every year through in vitro fertilization (IVF), or about one in every 11 children born. Few people accept donated reproductive cells in Japan due to a lack of clear regulations, leaving treatment in a “gray zone,” Taichung Nuwa Fertility Center medical director Wang Huai-ling (王懷麟)
PROXIMITY: Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location, the Executive Yuan official said Taiwan plans to boost cooperation with the Czech Republic in semiconductor development due to Prague’s pivotal role in the European IC industry, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said. With Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) building a wafer fab in the German city of Dresden, a Germany-Czech Republic-Poland “silicon triangle” is forming, Kung said in a media interview on the weekend after returning from a visit to Prague. “Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location,” he said. “Taiwan and Prague have already launched direct flights and it is
RSS