An ongoing project to construct an oil reserve facility and an industrial park in the Kingdom of Eswatini would help enhance the southern African nation’s energy resilience and spur economic growth, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said on Sunday.
Lin, who is in Eswatini to attend King Mswati III’s 40th anniversary on the throne and his 58th birthday, made the remarks in a Facebook post after meeting with Eswatini officials on Saturday for briefings on the two projects.
The Strategic Oil Reserve Facility is intended to ensure a 60-day fuel reserve for Eswatini, while the Taiwan Industrial Innovation Park aims to help Taiwanese businesses expand globally, connect with African markets and create local jobs, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Photo: Screen grab from Lin’s Facebook Page
Construction of the oil facility, which began in January, has been proceeding smoothly, Lin wrote, adding that the work is being done by the Overseas Investment & Development Corp, a Taiwanese company that handles government aid projects overseas.
About 60 Taiwanese investors have visited Eswatini to explore investment opportunities since the idea for the Taiwan Industrial Innovation Park was conceived last year during a meeting between him and King Mswati III, Lin wrote.
As global supply chains are reshaped, Taiwanese firms are expanding their global footprint, he said.
As a member of the African Continental Free Trade Area and the Southern African Customs Union, Eswatini is an important gateway for Taiwanese businesses entering African markets, he said.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
The eastern extension of the Taipei MRT Red Line could begin operations as early as late June, the Taipei Department of Rapid Transit Systems said yesterday. Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said it is considering offering one month of free rides on the new section to mark its opening. Construction progress on the 1.4km extension, which is to run from the current terminal Xiangshan Station to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, was 90.6 percent complete by the end of last month, the department said in a report to the Taipei City Council's Transportation Committee. While construction began in October 2016 with an
NON-RED SUPPLY: Boosting the nation’s drone industry is becoming increasingly urgent as China’s UAV dominance could become an issue in a crisis, an analyst said Taiwan’s drone exports to Europe grew 41.7-fold from 2024 to last year, with demand from Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression the most likely driver of growth, a study showed. The Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET) in a statement on Wednesday said it found that many of Taiwan’s uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) sales were from Poland and the Czech Republic. These countries likely transferred the drones to Ukraine to aid it in its fight against the Russian invasion that started in 2022, it said. Despite the gains, Taiwan is not the dominant drone exporter to these markets, ranking second and fourth
RSS