News & activities
News releases
On the morning of September 22, President Lai Ching-te met with a delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister Thulisile Dladla of the Kingdom of Eswatini. In remarks, President Lai noted that Deputy Prime Minister Dladla is leading a delegation to Taiwan for the formal inauguration of the World Alliance for Disaster Management (WADM), which is expected to create new collaborative opportunities for Taiwan and Eswatini as the two countries jointly advance international disaster management. The president said that under the WADM framework, Taiwan will share its experience in disaster management technology, emergency response, and rescue operations with Eswatini and other like-minded countries to bolster disaster resilience. He added that Taiwan will continue to deepen exchanges in such areas as industry, public health, and talent cultivation, bringing the two countries closer together.
A translation of President Lai’s remarks follows:
It is a pleasure to welcome Deputy Prime Minister Dladla once again as she leads this delegation to Taiwan. It has been only four months since we last met. In April, my scheduled trip to Eswatini was temporarily postponed due to external interference. However, with the support and assistance of His Majesty King Mswati III, the Queen Mother, and Deputy Prime Minister Dladla, we completed our visit smoothly and successfully in early May. I want to convey my special appreciation to Deputy Prime Minister Dladla for personally accompanying our delegation. You traveled vast distances with us to ensure a smooth journey. I feel a warm sense of friendship seeing you again today, and I extend my sincere gratitude to you once more.
Deputy Prime Minister Dladla served as Eswatini’s first female minister of foreign affairs and is her nation’s second female deputy prime minister. She has long been devoted to promoting gender equality and to enhancing the welfare of the people of Eswatini. As we strive to care for our peoples and advance social well-being, her passion for public affairs has facilitated even more cooperation and exchanges between Taiwan and Eswatini.
On this occasion, Deputy Prime Minister Dladla is visiting Taiwan for the formal inauguration of the WADM. The launch of this platform is sure to create new collaborative opportunities for Taiwan and Eswatini as we jointly advance international disaster management. In the face of extreme weather and other global challenges, countries must share experience and pool resources so as to establish more comprehensive disaster management mechanisms. Looking ahead, under the WADM framework, Taiwan will share its experience in disaster management technology, emergency response, and rescue operations with Eswatini and other like-minded countries. This will bolster overall disaster resilience and protect the lives of our peoples.
In addition to cooperation on disaster management, Taiwan is also sharing development experience with Eswatini through the Diplomatic Allies Prosperity Project. We continue to deepen exchanges in such areas as industry, public health, and talent cultivation, bringing our countries closer together. As we navigate a rapidly changing global landscape, Taiwan looks forward to, with the support of Eswatini, working alongside even more global partners. Drawing on our experience and capabilities, we aspire to make further contributions to the international community.
In closing, I wish your delegation a successful visit. I kindly ask Deputy Prime Minister Dladla to convey sincere greetings from Taiwan to Their Majesties the King and the Queen Mother.
Deputy Prime Minister Dladla then delivered remarks, saying that it was a profound honor to once again be received by President Lai. She then conveyed the warm greetings and best wishes of His Majesty King Mswati III, Her Majesty the Queen Mother, His Majesty’s government, and the people of the Kingdom of Eswatini. She noted that relations between Eswatini and Taiwan are now 58 years old, a period long enough to have built memories, weathered challenges, shared milestones, and developed trust. Over these decades, she said, the relationship has grown beyond the conventional understanding of bilateral relations and has acquired the character of family.
Turning to bilateral cooperation, Deputy Prime Minister Dladla thanked Taiwan for its decision to increase rice assistance to Eswatini as the country prepares for the possibility of severe El Niño conditions, and for Taiwan’s commitment to supporting additional social housing for vulnerable communities. She also expressed gratitude for Taiwan’s support of Eswatini’s tourism sector, noting that the story of Eswatini’s tourism is inseparable from the story of its people, culture, and traditions. Strengthening tourism creates opportunities for communities, artisans, entrepreneurs, women, and young people, she said, and she looks forward to more Taiwanese tourists coming to the kingdom – not only to visit, but to invest in tourism.
Deputy Prime Minister Dladla said that the friendship between Eswatini and Taiwan has matured and that their cooperation should mature with it, ramping up in scale, speed, and breadth. She said the two sides should look increasingly toward investment, industrial development, innovation, technology transfers, skills development, energy security, and mutually beneficial economic opportunities such as mining. The deputy prime minister cited the Taiwan Industrial Innovation Park, cooperation on the strategic oil reserve, and other strategic initiatives currently under discussion as important opportunities in this regard.
This, Deputy Prime Minister Dladla said, is also where the WADM assumes particular importance, as it allows the two countries to transform shared vulnerability into shared preparedness. Eswatini is proud to be among the alliance’s founding members, she said, and intends to contribute constructively to its development and help ensure that it becomes a practical platform for capacity-building, knowledge-sharing, and coordinated action. The more resilient societies become, she emphasized, the better positioned they are to protect development gains and improve the lives of their people.
Deputy Prime Minister Dladla thanked Taiwan for its long-standing support in Eswatini’s schools, hospitals, agricultural communities, and development programs, and especially for its steadfast support of the rural electrification program, thanks to which the whole of Eswatini now lights up like stars in the night sky. Looking to the future, she said, Eswatini is ready to do more, to move faster, and to identify bigger opportunities, and it is ready to build a partnership increasingly defined by what the two countries can achieve together.
In closing, Deputy Prime Minister Dladla once again expressed, on behalf of His Majesty King Mswati III, the Queen Mother, His Majesty’s government, and the people of the Kingdom of Eswatini, profound appreciation for the friendship of the people and government of Taiwan. She expressed hope that the friendship between the two countries will continue to deepen and their cooperation gather momentum, so that this 58-year relationship becomes not merely a diplomatic relationship, but one between friends and family.
The delegation was accompanied to the Presidential Office by Charge d’Affaires a.i. of the Embassy of the Kingdom of Eswatini Sithembiso M. Gama.
