The International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF) is integrating more technology into its foreign aid programs for diplomatic allies by working with the National Applied Research Laboratories (NARL), including a new project to assist Palau in protecting coral reefs.
A memorandum of understanding (MOU) for cooperation was signed between ICDF Secretary-General Timothy Hsiang (項恬毅) and NARL president Wang Yeong-her (王永和) on Thursday.
The two semi-official agencies are affiliated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Science and Technology respectively.
Photo courtesy of the Taiwan Ocean Research Institute
The ICDF promotes nearly 100 foreign aid projects — mainly in public healthcare, environmental protection, disaster prevention and relief, agriculture and food security, information and digital infrastructure — in allied nations every year, it said.
Since 2006, the ICDF has used satellite images relayed by NARL’s National Space Organization in several programs for Central American allies, Hsiang said yesterday, adding that the MOU aims to expand cooperation and increase each agency’s international presence.
For example, the ICDF is helping Honduras improve forest insect management, assisting Nicaragua in improving disaster response times and helping Belize advance urban infrastructure resiliency, he said.
The marine and underwater technologies developed by NARL’s Taiwan Ocean Research Institute (TORI) are to be employed in ICDF’s aid programs for Pacific allies, he said.
For example, the ICDF is helping Palau protect its coral reefs, with TORI members forming a delegation to inspect the corals off the coast of Palau last year, he said.
Cooperation on ocean technology is beginning with Palau because corals are vital to the nation, while ocean conservation has become a global issue, Hsiang said.
At the ICDF’s invitation, TORI associate research fellow Chen Chien-hsun (陳建勳) and National Sun Yat-sen University oceanography professor Keryea Soong (宋克義) last year visited Palau to inspect corals and water conditions, TORI director Wang Chau-chang (王兆璋) said separately.
In addition to aid, the institute’s research vessel, the Legend (勵進), would also be used for survey voyages to more remote waters and data collection, he said.
Partnerships with Australia, New Zealand and other Pacific countries can be expected, he added.
The ICDF also plans to use computing and artificial intelligence technologies developed by NARL to improve information security and household registration systems in allied nations, Hsiang added.
Taiwan maintains formal ties with 15 allies, including four in the Pacific, one in Africa, one in Europe and the rest in Latin America or the Caribbean region.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS