Visits by Irish legislators and ministers from Somaliland are sincerely welcomed by the government and people of Taiwan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said July 21.
A 5-member cross-party parliamentarian group from Ireland led by John McGuinness, deputy head of the House of Representatives and chair of the Taiwan-Ireland Parliamentary Friendship Society, will be in country through July 26. Other delegates include Malcolm Byrne and Barry Ward, Irish co-chairs of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China.
During their stay, the deputies will have an audience with President Lai Ching-te and attend a reception hosted by Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung, the MOFA said. Meetings with other high-ranking officials to exchange views on regional security, economic cooperation and technological innovations have also been arranged, the ministry added.
According to the MOFA, the delegation from Somaliland is led by Abdirahman Dahir Adam, minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation, who is accompanied by Minister of the Presidency Khadir Hussein Abdi and other high-ranking officials. Adam lauded Taiwan as a major partner and anticipated even closer ties in remarks made on arrival at Taoyuan International Airport in the northern city of the same name.
The MOFA said that the Somaliland envoys would meet with representatives of the Cabinet-level Ocean Affairs Council’s Coast Guard Administration to sign a cooperative agreement, and would be received by President Lai Ching-te.
The bilateral partnership between Taiwan and Somaliland, strengthened by the 2020 establishment of reciprocal offices, has made great strides in agriculture, education, energy, information and communications technology, and security, the ministry said. (POC-E)
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