BY MBONO MDLULI
MBABANE – Prime Minister Russell Mmiso Dlamini is back from the Republic of China (Taiwan) after a trip that took almost a week.
The Prime Minister arrived in the country at around 4pm, through King Mswati III International Airport. Upon arrival, he briefed the nation on the trip he undertook while in the Asian island.
The Prime Minister’s trip had been busy, as he engaged different influential people in that country, with one main message. That message was to assure the Taiwanese that Eswatini would like to continue strengthening the mutually beneficial relationship it has with Taiwan.
According to information he posted on his Facebook page, Dlamini said during the course of the week, he and his delegation paid a courtesy visit to Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, where they both expressed their wish to strengthen the relationship that existed between the two countries for 56 years.
Dlamini also paid a visit to Taiwan’s President-Elect William Lai Ching-te, who also expressed a wish to continue strengthening the mutually beneficial relationship his country had with Eswatini.
He further had a fruitful meeting with Taiwan’s Premier Dr Chien-jen Chen. The Taiwan’s Premier, according to Dlamini, also affirmed continued relationship between his country and Eswatini. Dlamini said Dr Chen also promised to help Eswatini’s civil service to be more efficient and effective.
Dlamini also met Taiwan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu. He also expressed the wish to see the two countries continue with their friendship.
The Prime Minister also had a time, with his team, to meet with investors in Taiwan. The meeting was aimed at marketing Eswatini as an ideal investment destination. He said they would be in touch with Eswatini Embassy in Taiwan for more follow-ups on investors who could show interest in setting up businesses in the country.
That meeting was organised by the Government of Taiwan, together with the Eswatini Embassy in Taiwan, and Eswatini Investments Promotion Authority (EIPA).
“We highlighted the African market access opportunities that come with investing in Eswatini,” Dlamini said.
On Thursday, the PM and his team visited the Tainan TSG, one of the biggest companies in Taiwan that funds a professional basketball team as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility. TSG offered to have an exchange program with Eswatini where Emaswati professional basketball players could and play for the Ghost Hawks.
“Taiwan, through Ambassador, H.E Jeremy Liang, then offered to sponsor a basketball tournament in the country,” Dlamini said.
On the same day, he toured the Taoyuan Refinery Plant in Taoyuan City. Here, the PM got to understand the environment considerations and best practices they had to adopt as they embarked on constructing the country’s first ever Strategic Oil Reserve.
“During our visit there, the Taipei Medical University, expressed interest in working with Eswatini to help us fight chronic diseases such as diabetes and cancer,” Dlamini said.
On their last day in Taiwan, the PM and his team visited the Disaster Prevention Research Center at the National Cheng Kong University, where they met with some Emaswati students studying and working in Taiwan. “I encouraged them to come home upon completion and to come up with innovative ideas that can take the Kingdom to the next level of development,” he said.
He narrated that they were warmly welcomed at the University, which he had the honour to do a three-week intensive course with in 2022. They agreed to draw up a programme that would strengthen relations between NCKU and the University of Eswatini (UNESWA). The agreement would see the development of a programme to introduce a Master’s degree in Disaster Risk Management in Eswatini and development of a professional program between the two countries and the introduction of scholarships for Emaswati that would like to study DRR at the University.
The Prime Minister expressed gratitude to have had this opportunity to strengthen the relations between the two countries and to have come up with programmes that will benefit our people.
“Our longstanding relationship with Taiwan is based on mutual respect and a strong desire to bring development to our people across both countries,” the Prime Minister concluded.
