Paraguayan Minister of Information and Communication Technologies Gustavo Villate thanked Taiwan for assisting the country in its development and said the South American nation is seeking collaboration in the semiconductor industry.
Villate, who led a delegation to visit Taiwan from Sunday last week to Thursday, said that Paraguayan President Santiago Pena had asked him to thank the government and people of Taiwan for their long-term support of the South American nation’s development and to affirm the solid ties between the two sides.
The delegation was impressed by Taiwan’s political and economic achievements, scientific and technological strength, and education system during the visit, he said, adding that attending the Smart City Summit & Expo and the Net Zero City Expo was a fruitful experience.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs via CNA
The visit was to “learn first-hand about the semiconductor industry” in Taiwan and seek cooperation opportunities in the field, he said in a statement on Thursday.
It is part of Paraguay’s recent efforts to “move from a commodity economy to a much more technological and advanced economy,” it said.
The close relationship between Taiwan and Paraguay “allows us to establish links that we can explore and see if we really have a way to support Taiwan, because the first thing is to support Taiwan and the second is to see how that benefits us, too,” Villate was quoted as saying.
The South American ally boasts advantages in the production of renewable energy and water reserves, which are fundamental elements for chip manufacturing, the ministry said.
The delegation also met with Paraguayan students from Taiwan-Paraguay Polytechnic University, whose commitment convinced Villate that the cooperation is a success.
Paraguay hopes to continue strengthening similar educational cooperation, he said.
“Education is a priority for President Santiago Pena. He tells us this every day, every time we have meetings,” Villate said.
On Wednesday, the delegation visited National Taiwan University of Science and Technology to discuss collaborations in technology, research and higher education, the ministry said in a separate statement.
“Paraguay and Taiwan maintain solid and fruitful diplomatic relations, and this visit further strengthens those ties of friendship and cooperation,” it said.
Foreign tourists who purchase a seven-day Taiwan Pass are to get a second one free of charge as part of a government bid to boost tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. A pair of Taiwan Passes is priced at NT$5,000 (US$156.44), an agency staff member said, adding that the passes can be used separately. The pass can be used in many of Taiwan’s major cities and to travel to several tourist resorts. It expires seven days after it is first used. The pass is a three-in-one package covering the high-speed rail system, mass rapid transport (MRT) services and the Taiwan Tourist Shuttle services,
Drinking a lot of water or milk would not help a person who has ingested terbufos, a toxic chemical that has been identified as the likely cause of three deaths, a health expert said yesterday. An 83-year-old woman surnamed Tseng (曾) and two others died this week after eating millet dumplings with snails that Tseng had made. Tseng died on Tuesday and others ate the leftovers when they went to her home to mourn her death that evening. Twelve people became ill after eating the dumplings following Tseng’s death. Their symptoms included vomiting and convulsions. Six were hospitalized, with two of them
DIVA-READY: The city’s deadline for the repairs is one day before pop star Jody Chiang is to perform at the Taipei Dome for the city’s Double Ten National Day celebrations The Taipei City Government has asked Farglory Group (遠雄集團) to repair serious water leaks in the Taipei Dome before Friday next week, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said yesterday, following complaints that many areas at the stadium were leaking during two baseball games over the weekend. The dome on Saturday and Sunday hosted two games in tribute to CTBC Brothers’ star Chou Szu-chi (周思齊) ahead of his retirement from the CPBL. The games each attracted about 40,000 people, filling the stadium to capacity. However, amid heavy rain, many people reported water leaking on some seats, at the entrance and exit areas, and the
BIG collection: The herbarium holds more than 560,000 specimens, from the Japanese colonial period to the present, including the Wulai azalea, which is now extinct in the wild The largest collection of plant specimens in Taiwan, the Taipei Botanical Garden’s herbarium, is celebrating its 100th anniversary with an exhibition that opened on Friday. The herbarium provides critical historical documents for botanists and is the first of its kind in Taiwan, Taiwan Forestry Research Institute director Tseng Yen-hsueh (曾彥學) said. It is housed in a two-story red brick building, which opened during 1924. At the time, it stored 30,000 plant specimens from almost 6,000 species, including Taiwanese plant samples collected by Tomitaro Makino, the “father of Japanese botany,” Tseng said. The herbarium collection has grown in the century since its