Cooperation projects between Taiwan and the Czech Republic that are being overseen by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are on schedule, a senior Taiwanese diplomat said yesterday.
Department of European Affairs Deputy-Director Lin Chu-en (林主恩) gave the update in response to a question about a delay in a Taiwan-Czech Republic project being run by the National Science and Technology Council.
Lin said the ministry’s initiatives were not facing the same problem.
Photo: CNA
The ministry is responsible for managing four major cooperation projects with the Czech Republic from last year to 2027: the Czech-Taiwanese Advanced Chip Design Research Center (ACDRC), the Business Opportunities Enhancement Program (BOEP), a research center focused on supply chain resilience and semiconductor development, and a scholarship program for Czech students specializing in semiconductor and key technology research, he said.
“All four projects are on time and on schedule,” he said.
The ACDRC was opened in Taipei in June, the same month the Czech Republic opened an investment center in Taipei as part of the BOEP, while 37 Czech students have engaged in short-term semiconductor training programs, the ministry said.
On Monday, NSTC Minister Wu Cheng-wen (吳誠文) said during a legislative session that one of its projects with the Czech Republic has not proceeded as smoothly as expected.
The NSTC was originally set to open a Prague office last month as part of its Taiwan Chip-based Industrial Innovation Program known as the “CBI-Prague Office,” but construction has been delayed, he said.
The Czech Republic has completed a round of elections resulting in a coalition government, meaning that there were “different opinions” regarding cooperation with Taiwan, Wu said, without elaborating.
The Czech side is still gathering opinions on the project with Taiwan, and the NSTC is hoping the CBI-Prague Office can be opened by the end of this year, he said.
Asked if the Czech elections had affected Taiwan-Czech cooperation as Wu said, Lin said he was not aware of any changes to bilateral cooperation projects, and that bilateral relations between the countries remained cordial.
Elections were held on Sept. 20-21 to elect all 675 members of all 13 Czech regional councils.
The country’s main opposition party, the right-wing populist ANO, dominated the elections, winning 10 of the 13 regions.
The regional elections were held together with the first round of the Czech Senate election.
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