Lithuanian Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications Agne Vaiciukeviciute yesterday met with Ministry of Transportation and Communications officials to discuss the possibility of launching direct flights between the two countries, as well as other transport-related issues.
Vaiciukeviciute and a delegation of government officials and electric vehicle industry representatives arrived in Taipei on Sunday for a five-day visit.
Yesterday morning, she attended a meeting with Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Chi Wen-chung (祁文中) that Representative to Lithuania Eric Huang (黃鈞耀) also joined.
Photo provided by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications
The Lithuanian delegation spoke with transport ministry officials about the possibility of launching direct passenger and cargo flights between the two countries, or establishing freight and passenger transit services, the ministry said, adding that it is seeking to form links between ports in Taiwan and the Baltic country.
The delegation’s aim is to facilitate cooperation between Taiwan and Lithuania in the development of electric vehicles, self-driving cars and smart transportation, as well as applications of 5G technology.
“Lithuania is a very friendly country to Taiwan and donated close to 260,000 doses of the Astra-Zeneca vaccine for COVID-19 when we experienced a vaccine shortage last year,” the ministry said.
“The government last year opened a representative office in Vilnius and named it the Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania, the first office in Europe to be called Taiwanese,” it said. “Lithuania is to set up a representative office in Taiwan next month.”
The ministry said it welcomed the visit and is optimistic about the prospect of cooperation in the field of transportation.
Meanwhile, a source said that the 11-member delegation is scheduled to visit Taichung-based RAC Electric Vehicles Inc tomorrow to explore the possibility of an e-bus partnership.
The delegation is to be received by RAC Electric chairman Kim Tsai (蔡裕慶) as they tour the Taiwanese e-bus developer’s production complex in Taichung Port Technology Industrial Park (臺中港科技產業園區), said the source, who asked to remain anonymous.
It would not be the first contact between Lithuania and RAC Electric — which also develops other commercial electric vehicles — as the Taiwanese firm has previously discussed the possibility of cooperation with the Lithuanian government, the source said, adding that the visit is expected to speed up such plans.
The delegation is scheduled to wrap up its visit on Thursday.
The visit is expected to highlight Taiwan and Lithuania’s commitment to building a green economy, deepening bilateral trade ties and forging a closer partnership based on shared values, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Additional reporting by CNA
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