BY MBONO MDLULI
MBABANE – Prime Minister Russell Mmiso Dlamini has assured Taiwan’s incoming President William Lai Ching-te that he can count on Eswatini for his support.
Dlamini said this yesterday during the occasion of a courtesy call to the PM by President Lai. “Your Excellency, I wish to make it clear that upon taking oath into your imminent Presidential term of office, Eswatini’s uncontaminated support for you and Taiwan is certainly something you can count on,” Dlamini said.
Dlamini stated that his visit to Taiwan was focused on reaffirming the Eswatini-Taiwan diplomatic commitments. “Your Excellency, I am here to challenge you as President-Elect, that we should keep foremost in our hearts and our minds what is best for our two unique countries,” he said.
The Premier said if they had to stop and think how unique their commitment was, as Eswatini and Taiwan, they would appreciate the need to preserve such for generations to come, for it was based on mutual understanding, stability and prosperity – and this pleasant reality was their reason for optimism as it provided a challenge and opportunity for their cooperation.
Dlamini said the way he saw it, at the helm of Lai’s presidency, there had been too many great triumphs for Eswatini.
His Majesty King Mswati III had grown an insatiable appetite for Eswatini’s socio-economic development, according to Dlamini. “His keen interest in a continued collaboration with you and your government, to realise this goal, I can assure you is on a level you have never imagined,” he said.
“This has been apparent through the directives from the Throne through which Cabinet will have to operate guided by.”
The Prime Minister told the President-Elect that during the recent Speech from the Throne at the Official Opening of the 1st Session of the 12th Parliament of the Kingdom of Eswatini, a month ago – His Majesty issued directives that resolutely address development in the Kingdom. Below are some of the directives, as presented by the Prime Minister during the event:
- As a direct command from the Throne, the construction of the Strategic Oil Reserve Facility is set to commence in the next six months. All preliminary logistics, to get the project underway, have been completed.
- Taiwan Medical Mission in the Kingdom. This commitment is well aligned with His Majesty’s directive on accessible quality healthcare for every Swazi as and when needed – without any financial or service difficulty.
- Taiwan’s technical support on the country’s major capital projects and infrastructure developments, including the completion of the International Convention Centre (ICC) and the Five Star Hotel (FISH). His Majesty has shown commitment on this by commanding that these must be prioritised in the next financial year (April 2024) and be completed by December 2024 – to pave way for his directive of attaining 5 percent economic growth for Eswatini.
- Under His Majesty’s command, the Governor of the Central Bank of Eswatini was in Taiwan, just about two weeks ago, on an assignment to establish cooperation between the Taiwan-Eswatini financial and banking sectors.
