President Tsai meets UK Minister of State for Trade and Investment Greg Hands
During a meeting on the afternoon of September 26 with a delegation led by Greg Hands, the United Kingdom's Minister of State for Trade and Investment, President Tsai Ing-wen called for further enhancement of Taiwan-UK economic and trade cooperation and expressed hope for a closer and more diverse range of bilateral interactions and exchanges.
In remarks, President Tsai noted that this is not the first visit to Taiwan for Mr. Hands, and said the fact that he is now leading a delegation here (to take part in the 19th Taiwan-UK Trade Talk) so soon after assuming his current position this past July clearly shows the great importance that the UK government attaches to Taiwan.
President Tsai said that Taiwan and the UK have maintained close official dialogues and exchanges in recent years, and the scope of cooperation has grown increasingly diverse, so she hopes that regularly scheduled exchanges between the two countries can be expanded to include such fields as culture, smart cities, and education. Commenting on economic and trade ties, the president pointed out that the UK is currently Taiwan's third-largest trading partner in Europe, while Taiwan is the UK's eighth-largest trading partner in the Asia-Pacific region, and that since 2014 the UK has been Europe's largest recipient of foreign direct investment from Taiwan. In the future, she added, Taiwan would be very happy to see further development of economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.
In closing, President Tsai expressed hope that this visit will enable the visitors to better understand opportunities for bilateral cooperation, and that they will encourage UK firms to strengthen their cooperative relationships with Taiwan. Hopefully, said the president, the two sides can use the Taiwan-UK Trade Talks and the Joint Meetings of the Taiwan-Britain Business Council to further enhance interactions and exchanges between Taiwan and the UK.
Also included among the visitors were Lord Faulkner (Trade Envoy with responsibility for Taiwan) and Mr. Damion Potter (Acting Representative, British Office Taipei).