The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) is looking to recruit 40 students as part of its annual youth ambassadors program to take part in a 10-day trip to Caribbean ally Saint Lucia that it hopes will enhance bilateral ties and broaden the students’ worldviews.
The ministry said it started accepting applications yesterday.
Applicants must be Taiwanese nationals aged 18 to 35 and be in a university or graduate school program in Taiwan, Department of NGO International Affairs Director-General Constance Wang (王雪虹) said.
Photo: Lu Yi-hsuan, Taipei Times
Taiwanese in that age group with a good command of English, or with special talents in the performing arts such as singing or dancing, are welcome to apply, she said.
Given that Saint Lucia’s economy is based on tourism and agriculture, the ministry is hoping to find four to five young Taiwanese who have won national-level cooking contests to join this year’s youth ambassador delegation, Wang said.
“We are hoping that their cooking skills can help connect people in the two countries and promote food diplomacy in the process,” she said.
Application forms can be downloaded from mofa.gov.tw and should be sent by registered mail to the Department of NGO International Affairs by June 30.
Those selected would need to undergo two weeks of training in Taipei before visiting Saint Lucia from Sept. 2 to 11.
Since its launch in 2009, the annual initiative has sent 1,800 youth ambassadors to other countries to take part in volunteer activities and seminars, and deliver cultural performances, the ministry said.
Trips were postponed in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In other developments, National Science and Technology Council Minister Wu Tsung-tsong (吳政忠) on Monday met with visiting Research Council of Lithuania Chairman Gintaras Valincius to promote scientific research cooperation between the two countries, most notably in the field of laser and biomedical technologies.
Taiwan and Lithuania have had a close relationship in the past few years, and the two sides would seek to deepen bilateral scientific research cooperation, Wu said during his meeting with Valincius.
Valincius said he had been deeply impressed by Taiwan’s scientific research development during his previous visit, and since becoming head of Lithuania’s research council, he is promoting the signing of a cooperation agreement between the two sides.
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
The Central Weather Administration has issued a heat alert for southeastern Taiwan, warning of temperatures as high as 36°C today, while alerting some coastal areas of strong winds later in the day. Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門) and Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔) are under an orange heat alert, which warns of temperatures as high as 36°C for three consecutive days, the CWA said, citing southwest winds. The heat would also extend to Tainan’s Nansi (楠西) and Yujing (玉井) districts, as well as Pingtung’s Gaoshu (高樹), Yanpu (鹽埔) and Majia (瑪家) townships, it said, forecasting highs of up to 36°C in those areas
RSS