Taipei, Oct. 29 (CNA) Relations between Taiwan and Mongolia have become increasingly close, with bilateral exchanges growing remarkably in recent years, President Chen Shui-bian said Wednesday.
Chen said that since 1991 -- when Taiwan first began promoting civic relations with Mongolia, bilateral ties between the two sides have grown by leaps and bounds, particularly since 1997, when Taipei City and the Mongolian capital of Ulan Bator established sisterhood ties.
In addition to facilitating the knotting of sisterhood ties, Chen noted that he, as mayor of Taipei at that time, also traveled to Mongolia in 1999 to further cement bilateral exchanges. Chen made the remarks during an audience with a group of Mongolian officials and civic leaders who have been in Taipei for a one-month training workshop.
The frequent bilateral exchanges have also been evidenced by the establishment of a Taiwan trade center by the China External Trade Development Council (CETRA) -- Taiwan's major foreign trade promotion arm -- the setting up of a Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Ulan Bator by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2002, and the ensuing founding of the Mongolian Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei this year, Chen said.
Chen told his Mongolian guests that he was much impressed with the warmth with which the Mongolian people greeted him, as well as their vigor and enthusiasm.
The president offered his greetings to the 26 Mongolian officials -- most of them incumbent deputy governors from various provinces around Mongolia -- who have just completed a one-month civil servant and public-office manager training program sponsored by the Cabinet-level Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission.
Chen exhorted them to continue to play important and crucial roles in the efforts to further strengthen ties between Taiwan and Mongolia after they return to their country.
Members of the Mongolian official group, led by Sodnom Batmunkh, a senior consultant to the Mongolian national legislature -- known as the State Great Khural -- paid a courtesy call on Chen at the Presidential Office, accompanied by Hsu Chih-hsiung, Chairman of the Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission.