Taiwan on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding to help the Kingdom of Eswatini, its only diplomatic ally in Africa, build an oil tank in the country.
Overseas Investment & Development Corp (OIDC, 海外投資開發股份有限公司) — a Taiwanese company focused on government aid projects overseas — has been contracted to build the strategic oil facility, Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) told reporters in Eswatini’s capital, Mbabane, after the memorandum of understanding was signed.
She did not go into detail, saying only that Eswatini had hoped to construct an oil tank that could store at least 30 days of oil reserves.
Photo: CNA
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), who is on a four-day visit to Eswatini, lauded the agreement as a milestone for relations between the two countries, the Presidential Office said in a news release.
Both sides have been in talks about the project for some time, she said during a meeting with Eswatini King Mswati III, adding that the planned facility would help ensure the African nation’s energy supply.
An Eswatini government Web site says the nation imports all of its oil from South Africa, leaving it susceptible to volatile international crude oil prices.
State oil company Eswatini National Petroleum Co (ENPC) has been mandated to build and operate oil reserve facilities as part of efforts to better ensure the nation’s oil supply.
Tuesday’s memorandum was signed by OIDC general manager Jeff Chung (鍾家富) and ENPC CEO Nhlanhla Dlamini.
OIDC was established in 1995 by state-run and private companies in Taiwan to undertake aid and infrastructure projects launched by the government in allied nations.
Officials at the ceremony also signed a deal to provide loans to female entrepreneurs in Eswatini and a sister-city agreement between Kaohsiung and Mbabane.
The financing agreement is part of a larger women’s empowerment project that Taiwan’s government launched in the African nation in 2020, Wang said.
As part of the project, the government has trained 5,000 Eswatini women in business and financial planning, she said.
Tsai also weighed in on the project, saying that she was glad that her government could fund the project and back women in Eswatini in the early phases of their businesses.
She also expressed hope that the sister-city agreement signed between Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) and Mbabane Mayor Vusi Tembe would facilitate more exchanges between the cities.
Chen told reporters after the ceremony that Kaohsiung was ready to share its experience with Mbabane in promoting information and communications technology, and facilitating the growth of small and medium-sized businesses.
Meanwhile, King Mswati III thanked Taiwan for continuing to support Eswatini’s development, adding that the three agreements marked an important step in the partnership between the two countries, the Presidential Office said.
The king, who has reigned over the last absolute monarchy in Africa since 1986, also encouraged more Taiwanese companies to invest in Eswatini, the office said.
GEARING UP: An invasion would be difficult and would strain China’s forces, but it has conducted large-scale training supporting an invasion scenario, the report said China increased its military pressure on Taiwan last year and took other steps in preparation for a potential invasion, an annual report published by the US Department of Defense on Wednesday showed. “Throughout 2023, Beijing continued to erode longstanding norms in and around Taiwan by employing a range of pressure tactics against Taiwan,” the report said, which is titled “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China (PRC) 2024.” The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) “is preparing for a contingency to unify Taiwan with the PRC by force, if perceived as necessary by Beijing, while simultaneously deterring, delaying or denying
PEACEFUL RESOLUTION: A statement issued following a meeting between Australia and Britain reiterated support for Taiwan and opposition to change in the Taiwan Strait Canada should support the peaceful resolution of Taiwan’s destiny according to the will of Taiwanese, Canadian lawmakers said in a resolution marking the second anniversary of that nation’s Indo-Pacific strategy on Monday. The Canadian House of Commons committee on Canada-Chinese relations made the comment as part of 34 recommendations for the new edition of the strategy, adding that Ottawa should back Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations. Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, first published in October 2022, emphasized that the region’s security, trade, human rights, democracy and environmental protection would play a crucial role in shaping Canada’s future. The strategy called for Canada to deepen
TECH CONFERENCE: Input from industry and academic experts can contribute to future policymaking across government agencies, President William Lai said Multifunctional service robots could be the next new area in which Taiwan could play a significant role, given its strengths in chip manufacturing and software design, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chairman and chief executive C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said yesterday. “In the past two months, our customers shared a lot of their future plans with me. Artificial intelligence [AI] and AI applications were the most talked about subjects in our conversation,” Wei said in a speech at the National Science and Technology Conference in Taipei. TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, counts Nvidia Corp, Advanced Micro Devices Inc, Apple Inc and
LEAP FORWARD: The new tanks are ‘decades more advanced than’ the army’s current fleet and would enable it to compete with China’s tanks, a source said A shipment of 38 US-made M1A2T Abrams tanks — part of a military procurement package from the US — arrived at the Port of Taipei early yesterday. The vehicles are the first batch of 108 tanks and other items that then-US president Donald Trump announced for Taiwan in 2019. The Ministry of National Defense at the time allocated NT$40.5 billion (US$1.25 billion) for the purchase. To accommodate the arrival of the tanks, the port suspended the use of all terminals and storage area machinery from 6pm last night until 7am this morning. The tanks are expected to be deployed at the army’s training
RSS