離開
進入《TAIPEI TIMES》 Delegation builds Southbound bonds
Legislative Speaker Su Jia-chyuan, fourth right, yesterday poses for a group photo in Manila, the Philippines, where he is meeting high-level officials and business leaders regarding cooperation over the government’s New Southbound Policy. Photo: CNA
/ Staff writer, with CNA
A delegation led by Legislative Speaker Su Jia-chyuan （蘇嘉全） over the weekend visited the Philippines to boost legislative exchanges between the two nations and to explain the New Southbound Policy.
The delegation met with high-ranking Philippine government officials and top managers from the business sector, and attended events held by Taiwanese businesspeople based in the Philippines.
Invited by the Taiwan Association Inc Philippines, the delegation — including Democratic Progressive Party legislators Wu Kun-yuh （吳焜裕） and Chung Chia-pin （鍾佳濱）, Taiwan External Trade Development Council vice chairman Chuang Suo-hang （莊碩漢） and business leaders — arrived in the Philippines on Saturday.
On Saturday evening, they met with two former Philippine presidents, the House of Representatives of the Philippines deputy speaker and several leaders of the Senate and the House.
The two sides spoke about issues including bilateral relations, the New Southbound Policy, economic and trade ties and investments, as well as the reconstruction of war-torn Marawi City, cooperation against transnational crime and drug trafficking, exchange visits between the legislative bodies and visa-free access.
The two nations have maintained a close relationship for many years, the two nations are geographically close to each other and have many similar historical experiences, Austronesian culture, and values of democracy, freedom, open society and the freedom of the press, Su said.
The Philippines plays an important role in the policy introduced by President Tsai Ing-wen’s （蔡英文） administration, he said, adding that the Philippines is a major trading partner and a portal for Taiwan in expanding ASEAN relationships.
The policy emphasizes humanism and improving exchanges between people, he added.
Su said that he deeply feels the energy of the Philippines and the friendliness of its people, and the nation has shown outstanding economic performance with its rich natural and human resources over the past few years.
He said that Taiwan has good human resources, capital and technology, and hopefully the two nations can improve their substantial relationship and benefit from bilateral cooperation.
Under the policy, Taiwan in November granted visa-free access to the Philippines.
The number of visitors from the Philippine is expected to reach a record high of about 300,000, and hopefully Taiwan can increase cooperation and exchanges with the Philippines in various other aspects, Su said.
The delegation yesterday also attended a handover ceremony of the association’s directors and supervisors, and a dinner event at the residence of the association’s honorary president Hsieh Shih-ying （謝世英）, with many Taiwanese living in the Philippines attending.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
