Taiwan's new representative to Thailand, Peter Sha-li Lan (藍夏禮), arrived in Bangkok yesterday with his wife, where they were greeted by his deputy and staff at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Thailand, as well as Taiwanese businesspeople and expats.
Addressing those at the airport, the new envoy said the New Southbound Policy, President William Lai's (賴清德) vision of an economy on which the sun never sets, and Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung's (林佳龍) Diplomatic Allies Prosperity Project are aimed at promoting trade and economic relations.
The restructuring of the global supply chain highlighted Taiwan's advantages in high-tech, electronics and semiconductor industries, and many Taiwanese businesses or young entrepreneurs have chosen to expand to Thailand, Lan said.
Photo: CNA
There has been a great shift in geopolitics and politics as well as business in Thailand since he was stationed in the Southeast Asian country more than 10 years ago, Lan told CNA.
The new envoy said he plans to catch up and relearn about the country, in order to promote cooperation and build connections between Taiwan and Thailand in trade, technology, education, labor and culture.
Lan came to Thailand after a stint as the head of the Department of East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) in July 2023.
He previously served as the ambassador to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines from 2021 to 2023, and the deputy representative at the Taiwan Economic and Trade Office in Indonesia before that.
The veteran diplomat worked as head of the political division and a spokesperson at Taiwan's representative office in Thailand for several years until 2015, according to MOFA.
Lan took over from Chang Chun-fu (張俊福), during whose tenure the Agreement for the Promotion and Protection of Investments between Taiwan and Thailand was signed in June last year, making Thailand the fifth trading partner to sign an investment agreement with Taiwan since 2016, following earlier agreements with the Philippines, India, Vietnam and Canada, MOFA's website showed.
Most recently, Chang signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Technical and Vocational Education and Training with Narong Boonsatheanwong, Thailand's representative to Taiwan, on June 20 this year.
TRAFFIC SAFETY RULES: A positive result in a drug test would result in a two-year license suspension for the driver and vehicle, and a fine of up to NT$180,000 The Ministry of Transportation and Communications is to authorize police to conduct roadside saliva tests by the end of the year to deter people from driving while under the influence of narcotics, it said yesterday. The ministry last month unveiled a draft of amended regulations governing traffic safety rules and penalties, which included provisions empowering police to conduct mandatory saliva tests on drivers. While currently rules authorize police to use oral fluid testing kits for signs of drug use, they do not establish penalties for noncompliance or operating procedures for officers to follow, the ministry said. The proposed changes to the regulations require
Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung and Taoyuan would issue a decision at 8pm on whether to cancel work and school tomorrow due to forecasted heavy rain, Keelung Mayor Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) said today. Hsieh told reporters that absent some pressing reason, the four northern cities would announce the decision jointly at 8pm. Keelung is expected to receive between 300mm and 490mm of rain in the period from 2pm today through 2pm tomorrow, Central Weather Administration data showed. Keelung City Government regulations stipulate that school and work can be canceled if rain totals in mountainous or low-elevation areas are forecast to exceed 350mm in
1.4nm WAFERS: While TSMC is gearing up to expand its overseas production, it would also continue to invest in Taiwan, company chairman and CEO C.C. Wei said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) has applied for permission to construct a new plant in the Central Taiwan Science Park (中部科學園區), which it would use for the production of new high-speed wafers, the National Science and Technology Council said yesterday. The council, which supervises three major science parks in Taiwan, confirmed that the Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau had received an application on Friday from TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, to commence work on the new A14 fab. A14 technology, a 1.4 nanometer (nm) process, is designed to drive artificial intelligence transformation by enabling faster computing and greater power
China Airlines Ltd (CAL) yesterday morning joined SkyTeam’s Aviation Challenge for the fourth time, operating a demonstration flight for “net zero carbon emissions” from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Bangkok. The flight used sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at a ratio of up to 40 percent, the highest proportion CAL has achieved to date, the nation’s largest carrier said. Since April, SAF has become available to Taiwanese international carriers at Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport), Kaohsiung International Airport and Taoyuan airport. In previous challenges, CAL operated “net zero carbon emission flights” to Singapore and Japan. At a ceremony at Taoyuan airport, China Airlines chief sustainability
RSS