Taiwan and Solomon Islands officials gathered May 1 in Taipei City to review exchanges and progress under the memorandum of understanding on meteorological cooperation inked between the two sides 12 months ago.
Organized by the Central Weather Bureau under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, the one-day event involved attendees like CWB Director-General Yeh Tien-chiang and David Hiba Hiriasia, director of the Solomon Islands Meteorological Service, as well as Ambassador Joseph Pius Waleanisia of the Pacific diplomatic ally.
Yeh said the meeting represents an invaluable opportunity for Taiwan and the Solomon Islands to share ideas, explore more avenues for collaboration in areas of overlapping interest and strengthen bilateral relations. Despite the geographic distance between the two countries, both face similar threats from Mother Nature like earthquakes and rising sea levels caused by global warming, he added.
According to Yeh, Taiwan started working in 2013 to enhance the weather forecasting and seismic capabilities of the SIMS. These efforts have been extremely fruitful to date and more achievements are anticipated going forward under the memorandum, he said.
One example is development of an early warning system for extreme weather events and earthquakes in the Solomon Islands. Taiwan has assisted in the planning and installation of several climate and seismological observation facilities, which are considered instrumental in predicting dengue fever outbreaks.
According to the CWB, initial accomplishments under the pact were shared by Taiwan and the Solomon Islands during a sideline event at the Conference of Parties of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change last November in the German city of Bonn. They were also published on the website of Canada-headquartered International Institute for Sustainable Development as part of its COP23 coverage.
Taiwan and Solomon Islands established diplomatic relations in 1983. The nations maintain close and friendly ties, with bilateral cooperation projects spanning such areas as agriculture, medical care and sustainable development. (SFC-E)
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