A working holiday program agreement between Taiwan and Belgium will take effect March 29, Taiwan’s Youth Day, the ROC Ministry of Foreign Affairs said March 12.
The agreement, signed March 6 in Brussels by Tung Kuo-yu, Taiwan’s representative to the EU and Belgium, and Caroline Vermeulen, director of the Belgian Office in Taipei, is Taiwan’s ninth working holiday accord and Belgium’s fourth, the MOFA said.
The program enables up to 200 people per year aged between 18 and 30 to spend one year in the other country to work, volunteer, sightsee or study, improving their language skills and gaining a deeper insight into the life, culture, and society of that nation.
“Taiwan youths should avail themselves of the opportunities on offer to broaden their views and develop their people skills in a foreign country,” the MOFA said. “They can help promote understanding of Taiwan through their creativity and vibrancy.”
Belgium, slightly smaller in size than Taiwan, offers numerous cultural features due to its location as a cultural crossroads and transportation hub of Europe. As the seat of the EU and NATO, Brussels gives the country more political clout in the European bloc, the MOFA said.
The MOFA said it takes youth exchanges very seriously and hopes to see contact between the two nations’ youths further expanded. (SDH)