The Taipei Representative Office in France is to establish a new branch office in Aix-en-Provence to boost bilateral ties in trade, technology and tourism, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
It would be the nation’s second new representative office this year, following last week’s opening of the Taiwan Representative Office in Somaliland.
The ministry’s announcement came after the Chinese-language Up Media news site on Monday reported that Marseille and Lyon were the ministry’s preferred locations, but it settled for Aix-en-Provence on a mutual consensus with French officials.
The office in Aix-en-Provence would be the nation’s second unit in France, Department of European Affairs Director-General Johnson Chiang (姜森) told a news conference in Taipei yesterday.
The opening date is to be determined, while some ministry personnel would leave for Aix-en-Provence for preparations, he said.
Negotiations with France about the new office had lasted “for a while,” he said, sidestepping media queries about when the talks began.
Asked if China has exerted any pressure about the office’s preparations, Chiang said he would not specifically comment on the question, but added that establishing the new office is mutually beneficial for Taiwan and France.
From 2016 to last year, the number of Taiwanese visiting France grew by 62 percent, while French visitors to Taiwan increased by nearly 30 percent, he said.
Taiwan and France continue to deepen bilateral exchanges in trade, technology, culture and education, while cooperation in aerospace and biotechnology are also promising, he added.
Aix-en-Provence is part of the Metropolis of Aix-Marseille-Provence in southern France — one of the primary destinations for Taiwanese tourists — and has a high-speed rail station, he said.
The city offers convenience on par with other locations, such as Lyon, France’s second-largest city; Montpellier, a global hub for biological research; the Sophia Antipolis technology park, which is home to France’s cutting-edge research; Grenoble, which is considered the Silicon Valley of France; and Toulouse, home to the country’s aerospace technology, he said.
Grenoble, Toulouse, Nice and Paris have become home to French artificial intelligence (AI) research centers after the country outlined its AI development strategy in 2018, said Chang Chung-pai (張中白), director of the Science and Technology Division at the representative office in Paris.
Technology cooperation between Taiwan and France focuses primarily on innovation, as well as research on biomedicine, natural sciences and sustainable development, he said.
The Franco-Taiwanese Scientific Grand Prize would mark its 22nd edition this year, he added.
The National Applied Research Laboratories has also signed agreements with French National Center for Space Studies and CEA-Leti to promote cooperation in space and semiconductor research, he said.
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