The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday said it is leading a familiarization trip to Eswatini, which started on Thursday last week and ends tomorrow.
Department of West Asian and African Affairs Deputy Director Chen Yung-po (陳詠博) said a group of Taiwanese tourism industry workers have joined the trip to Eswatini to explore its tourism resources and deepen people-to-people exchange between Taiwan and Eswatini, Taiwan’s only diplomatic ally in Africa.
The trip was organized by the ministry to promote “sustainable tourism” under the Co-Prosperity Project with Taiwan’s allies, and to boost Eswatini’s tourism market, he said.
Photo: Huang Chin-hsuan, Taipei Times
Seventeen people — composed of representatives of the Travel Agent Association of ROC, Taiwan and nine travel agencies — are visiting the southern African nation, Chen said, adding that they were to meet with Eswatini Minister of Tourism and Environmental Affairs Jane Mkhonta-Simelane.
They were also to visit African tribes, an open range zoo, local arts and handicrafts, and the world’s second-largest rock, as well as meet with members of local tour agencies, to learn about the potential of tourism collaboration between the two countries, he added.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs hopes to draw on the tourism industry workers’ professional knowledge and experience, and through the on-site inspection of local [Eswatini] tourism resources and capacity evaluate the potential of developing focused tours, such as trips that include the Buganu Festival, the Reed Dance ceremony, Incwala Day or the ‘Big Five’ animals,” Chen said.
Eswatini and Taiwan have maintained a close cooperative ties in the 57 years since they became diplomatic allies, a relationship the ministry would continue to grow through the Co-Prosperity Project under the “integrated diplomacy” framework, and deeper cooperation in various fields, he said.
In other news, Chen said that Taiwan was still in talks with South Africa regarding negotiations over Pretoria’s demand that Taiwan move its representative office to Johannesburg and the country’s attempts to downgrade the status of the office.
The talks with South Africa are focused on protecting national interests and upholding the principles of mutual equality and dignity, and the ministry would comprehensively consider all possible measures and approaches to defend the nation’s sovereignty and dignity, he said.
The negotiations follow the Ministry of Economic Affairs announcement last week that it would implement new export controls for South Africa-bound goods, requiring prior approval for 47 products, including advanced semiconductors.
However, MOFA later in the week said it had asked the economics ministry to halt the implementation of the restrictions as the South African government had asked to discuss the matter.
The South African government initially set a deadline of October last year for Taiwan to move its representative office out of Pretoria, the administrative capital, to Johannesburg, the commercial capital. It extended it to March, while also unilaterally renaming Taiwan’s two offices in the country.
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