Members of the CACCI Presidential Delegation led by its President Peter McMullin AM made a courtesy call on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) during the afternoon of May 17th 2023 in Taipei where they were welcomed by MOFA officers led by Deputy Minister Tien Chung-kwang.

Deputy Minister Tien said that Taiwan is proud to have the CACCI’s Secretariat set up in Taiwan as it provides them an effective channel to reach out into CACCI’s member countries in the region and beyond as well.

He informed the delegation of the humanitarian assistance that Taiwan has extended to countries that need it, such as those affected by the Ukraine-Russia conflict. He added that Asia is a very important region since some 50% – 60% of energy and food supply sail across its waters. The current fragile situation brought about by the current challenges should serve as a catalyst for governments and businesses to work together to address these challenges.

The Deputy Minister also cited Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy which he said has been setting in place the right policies for improving trade relations, people connection, and training of students and young people. He further sought the support of CACCI member countries for its bid to join the CPTPP as its participation in the agreement is important for Taiwan and is also expected to benefit other Asian countries.

Mr. McMullin mentioned the same points he raised during the delegations’ meeting with previous government agencies, namely: (a) the important role played by Taiwan in the activities of CACCI’s ; (b) the SET principle he plans to follow during his CACCI presidency; (c) the support of CACCI in addressing the challenges faced by Taiwan as well as its application for CPTPP membership; and the (d) important role played by chambers in general as merchants of peace through its continuous effort to conduct dialogue for peaceful relations through business.

Mr. Sayeed raised the same points he mentioned during the courtesy call on the previous government office, namely, the need to ease visa issuance in order facilitate person-to-person contact, using CACCI representative in Pakistan to help facilitate and issue visa recommendation for Taiwan with the endorsement of MOFA, Pakistan’s advantage of having a young population, and extending an invitation to the Taiwanese government to visit Pakistan to get first-hand information on the country’s business, trade and investment opportunities.

In response, the Deputy Minister said that as a short-term solution to the visa issue, he expressed his willingness to personally facilitate visa approval for Pakistani businessmen visiting Taiwan. But he cited the need for a long-term solution, which is a matter that needs to be discussed between the two governments in the future. He adds that Taiwan totally appreciates the potential for greater economic relationship between Pakistan and Taiwan and should therefore need to look at how to improve mobility of businessmen between the two countries.

Mr. Atif Iqbal from Pakistan also reiterated the points he raised previously with the other government offices visited, and once again suggested the possibility of establishing a Business Council between Pakistan and Taiwan as a vehicle for further increasing economic, trade and investment cooperation between the two countries. He further mentioned possible cooperation in the healthcare sector, such as the implementation of a borderless doctor program similar to that of SAARC. He said that there are currently 400 active pharmacies in Pakistan which can work with Taiwan, which could be a huge market for pharmaceutical products from Pakistan.

The Deputy Minister cited the importance of medical connectivity. In this regard, he mentioned the One Country, One Centre Program of Taiwan, under which mobile teams can inspect the situation in other countries such as Tuvalu every two to three months. He recognized the importance of the cooperation of doctors, the availability of machines for remote places, and smart health care system for remote consulting diagnosis, state-of-the-art diagnostic system, and tele-surgery. He said that as a starting point, Taiwan and Pakistan can have exchange visits for teams of specialists or pharmaceutical representatives.

Mr. Inaishvili expressed the group’s appreciation for the help extended by Taiwan to countries that were impacted heavily by the Covid pandemic. He acknowledged the important role of Taiwan in being the first country to notify the world of the onset of the pandemic in late 2019. He also cited the strategy of some countries of weaponizing trade. For instance, when Australia started an investigation on the source of Covid, China was antagonized and in retaliation, blocked the import of red wine from Australia.

Mr. Conrad Lee from Kowloon Chamber of Commerce (KCC) said that KCC aims to serve as a bridge between Hong Kong, China and Taiwan. However, this has been made a little more difficult since Hong Kong has changed a lot in recent years, affecting Taiwan – Hongkong relationship. He pointed out that if the system is not free, business cannot be free.

At the end of the courtesy call, Mr. McMullin presented a Testimonial of Appreciation to MOFA for receiving the CACCI delegation and giving them the opportunity to have a dialogue on foreign policy issues and other matters of mutual interest.

The full report of the CACCI Presidential Visit to Taiwan can be read HERE.