A new scholarship is to sponsor young people from Taiwan’s diplomatic allies for exchanges in Taiwan, with a total of 75 slots available this year under two different categories, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today.
Eric Lin (林世欣), deputy chief of the ministry’s Department of Policy Planning, told a news conference today that the new scholarship program is a part of the Taiwan Global Pathfinders Initiative launched by President William Lai (賴清德) on Jan. 24.
The initiative supports young Taiwanese to study abroad, while also inviting young people from Taiwan’s diplomatic allies to come to Taiwan.
Photo: Chou Min-hung, Taipei Times
Under Lai’s instruction, the foreign ministry and Ministry of Education are cooperating to launch the Youth Allies Global Pathfinder Program, which would be implemented by the International Cooperation and Development Fund, Lin said.
This program would deepen ties with diplomatic allies by sponsoring young people to come for exchanges in Taiwan, he said.
The program is divided into two categories, Lin said.
The first category is program-based, meaning that applicants would apply to participate in a two-week government-organized program, the ministries said, adding that 50 slots are available.
There would be two rounds held under the category this year, one in July and the other in December, which would focus on sustainable tourism and smart agriculture, he added.
The second category, with 25 slots, is proposal-based, meaning that applicants would submit individual proposals to pursue a project in Taiwan, Lin said.
Projects under this category are expected to start in September, he said, adding that they would last from two weeks to three months.
In addition, Lin said that the ministry plans to double the number of Taiwan Scholarship recipients within the next two years, raising the quota from 200 to 500 by the next academic year.
The annual quota for the Taiwan Fellowship is also increasing from 100 to 125 recipients starting this year, he said.
Since its launch in 2004, the Taiwan Scholarship has sponsored more than 3,000 young people from Taiwan’s diplomatic allies to study in Taiwan, Lin said.
Since its launch in 2010, the Taiwan Fellowship program has awarded fellowships to more than 1,500 academics from around the world, he added.
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