Taiwan and Libya will improve bilateral economic exchanges by setting up trade offices and President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) may accept an invitation to visit the north African state in near future, the Presidential Office said yesterday.
Chen yesterday met with the chairman of the Qaddafi Foundation, Saif Qaddafi, the third eldest son of Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi.
Chen said that the visit of Saif Qaddafi to Taiwan as the envoy of the nation's leader was an historic occasion.
PHOTO: JEROME FAVRE, AP
Accepting an invitation from Muammar Qaddafi to visit Libya in the future, Chen asked Saif Qaddafi to pass on an invitation to his father, asking him to visit Taiwan.
"Both sides have agreed to set up offices in a bid to promote exchanges in diverse areas such as trade, tourism, aviation, education, culture, military affairs and security issues," Chen said.
Saif Qaddafi said that the delegates accompanying him on this trip are especially interested in promoting exchanges in the fields of oil exploitation, technology, trade, security and military affairs.
"I hope Taiwan and Libya can work together to play an important role in Africa to help people there and also to build good partnerships with other African countries," Saif Qaddafi said.
Officials at the Presidential Office attributed Taiwan's recent good relationship with Libya to the long-term efforts of the National Security Council. Officials stressed that it is important for Taiwan to build good relations with oil-producing countries in both Africa and the Middle East.
According to Presidential Office Deputy Secretary-General James Huang (黃志芳), Libya has managed to normalize its relations with the US since the Sept. 11 attacks by helping to combat global terrorism.
"Libya is one of a handful of countries in Africa with large fuel reserves. Good relations are crucial to us. Besides, Libya has expressed a lot of interest in Taiwan's development experience, especially in the areas of science parks and information technology," Huang said.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesman Michel Lu (呂慶龍) said yesterday that Libya is an important oil-exporting country, and therefore strategically important to Taiwan.
Libya is very keen on further pursuing mutual cooperation with Taiwan on petroleum and high-tech industries, he said.
Taiwan had diplomatic relations with Libya from 1959 to 1978. Taiwan maintained a trade office there from 1980 to 1997 after Libya switched its diplomatic recognition to China. The office was closed in 1997 due to pressure from China.
Additional reporting by Chang Yun-ping
The Taipei MRT is open all night tonight following New Year’s Eve festivities, and is offering free rides from nearby Green Line stations. Taipei’s 2025 New Year’s Eve celebrations kick off at Taipei City Hall Square tonight, with performances from the boy band Energy, the South Korean girl group Apink, and singers Gigi Leung (梁詠琪) and Faith Yang (楊乃文). Taipei 101’s annual New Year’s firework display follows at midnight, themed around Taiwan’s Premier12 baseball championship. Estimates say there will be about 200,000 people in attendance, which is more than usual as this year’s celebrations overlap with A-mei’s (張惠妹) concert at Taipei Dome. There are
NEW YEAR’S ADDRESS: ‘No matter what threats and challenges Taiwan faces, democracy is the only path,’ William Lai said, urging progress ‘without looking back’ President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday urged parties across the political divide to democratically resolve conflicts that have plagued domestic politics within Taiwan’s constitutional system. In his first New Year’s Day address since becoming president on May 20 last year, Lai touched on several issues, including economic and security challenges, but a key emphasis was on the partisan wrangling that has characterized his first seven months in office. Taiwan has transformed from authoritarianism into today’s democracy and that democracy is the future, Lai said. “No matter what threats and challenges Taiwan faces, democracy is the only path for Taiwan,” he said. “The only choice
ANNOUNCEMENT: People who do not comply with the ban after a spoken warning would be reported to the police, the airport company said on Friday Taoyuan International Airport Corp on Friday announced that riding on vehicles, including scooter-suitcases (also known as “scootcases”), bicycles, scooters and skateboards, is prohibited in the airport’s terminals. Those using such vehicles should manually pull them or place them on luggage trolleys, the company said in a Facebook post. The ban intends to maintain order and protect travelers’ safety, as the airport often sees large crowds of people, it said, adding that it has stepped up publicity for the regulation, and those who do not comply after a spoken warning would be reported to the police. The company yesterday said that
CORRUPTION: Twelve other people were convicted on charges related to giving illegal benefits, forgery and money laundering, with sentences ranging from one to five years The Yilan District Court yesterday found Yilan County Commissioner Lin Zi-miao (林姿妙) guilty of corruption, sentencing her to 12 years and six months in prison. The Yilan District Prosecutors’ Office in 2022 indicted 10 government officials and five private individuals, including Lin, her daughter and a landowner. Lin was accused of giving illegal favors estimated to be worth NT$2.4 million (US$73,213) in exchange for using a property to conduct activities linked to the 2020 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential and legislative election campaigns. Those favors included exempting some property and construction firms from land taxes and building code contraventions that would have required
RSS