Taiwan Today

The ROC Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed Feb. 7 the preliminary agreement between Iran, the five U.N. Security Council members and Germany to restrict its nuclear program. The accord, inked in Geneva Nov. 24, 2013, took effect Jan. 20. Under the agreement Iran will restrict itself to peaceful nuclear development in return for a loosening of economic sanctions during an initial six-month period. The ROC government called on Tehran to abide by all resolutions of the U.N. Security Council, implement the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and fully resolve issues associated with its nuclear program within the next year, in order to promote peace and stability within the Middle East.

The ROC and El Salvador recently concluded a small and medium enterprise cooperative agreement, which will enable the Latin American nation to draw on Taiwan’s long and plentiful experience in developing SMEs. The accord, which covers areas such as business development, industrial design and innovation, was signed by ROC Minister of Economic Affairs Chang Chia-juch Jan. 17 in Taipei City and El Salvador Minister of Economy Armando Flores Feb. 5 in San Salvador.

Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) and Innovation PEI, the economic development body of Prince Edward Island, Canada, signed a memorandum of understanding Feb. 10 in Taipei to develop bilateral economic and trade relations. The accord is one of the highlights of an official visit by PEI Premier Robert W. J. Ghiz, the first such visit by a Canadian premier in 21 years.

Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics and the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan signed a memorandum of understanding Feb. 7 to extend long-term collaboration on the Hawaii-based Subaru Telescope, one of the world’s largest and most advanced optical telescopes, the Taipei City-based research organization said Feb. 7. The project calls for both organizations to construct several new instruments to upgrade the Subaru’s prime focus capability, which will aid researchers investigating hot topics such as dark energy and dark matter, as well as help refine understanding of cosmological models, galaxy evolution and galaxy archaeology. (SDH)

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