Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung hosted an interministerial strategic group meeting, Jan. 16 to plan participation in the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting. The group discussed overall national direction and task priorities in the international body.
The event was attended by 130 representatives from over 20 ministries and agencies. National delegation members to the 2026 APEC Business Advisory Council Acer Chairman Jason Chen, Taiwan Mobile President Jamie Lin and Quanta Computer Chief Technology Officer Ted Chang also shared their experiences and offered suggestions during the event.
According to Lin, APEC is the most important economic and trade forum in the Asia-Pacific, and the issues it highlights such as anti-fraud measures, digital applications, smart medical care and technology are in line with the government’s own policy priorities. The organization has stressed the importance of public-private collaboration in recent years, he said, and urged ministries and agencies to strengthen cooperation with private entities to support the integrated diplomacy initiative and realize President Lai Ching-te’s aspiration for Taiwan to be a thriving global economic powerhouse.
Lin noted that Taiwan has set up an APEC sub-fund on future healthcare, the first major Taiwan APEC initiative for a decade. It is hoped that the public sector will make greater use of the fund to host meetings and activities sharing digital health and smart medical care achievements; create further business opportunities for domestic enterprises and show how Taiwan Can Help and Taiwan Can Lead.
Taiwan joined the APEC as a full member in 1991, the MOFA said, adding that equal participation was a 2024 and 2025 meeting consensus supported by all APEC members and was included in a joint statement by the APEC Ministerial Meeting. Citing China’s statement in ensuring security of all participants during the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in 2024, the MOFA directly requests that China observe APEC rules, conventions and practices to respect Taiwan’s right to equally participate in the 2026 APEC meetings and to safeguard the representatives’ security during the event. (YCH-E)
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