Ambassador Andy Yih-Ping Liu of the Taipei Trade Office in Nigeria has expressed his country’s willingness to collaborate with President Bola Tinubu’s administration in the fields of education, training, agriculture and technological development.
Liu stated that his country believes Tinubu’s administration can propel Nigeria’s economy and social growth to new and enviable heights during a media interview with The Nation Newspaper.
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Why Taiwan is willing to partner with Nigeria
“From a long term observance of Nigerian politics, economic, social and all kinds of development, our office has been quite happy to see and to hear that during the presidential campaign, the President mentioned in the South-South and South-East that he would like to promote the South-East of the country to become what Taiwan is to Asia,” the envoy said.
“We are happy to hear that Mr. Tinubu has shared openly, publicly that he wants to make certain parts of Nigeria, which have great potential, to become a Taiwan-like economy in the future.
Taiwan is not like Nigeria. You have almost all the natural resources and energy, especially oil. We in Taiwan feel that we are unlucky; we have nothing like natural resources but technology. That’s why we envy Nigeria very much.
“With Mr. Tinubu’s announcement that he would like to make the South-South or South-East to become like Taiwan, that means he knows us as a reference module for Nigeria in the area of technology, and we are ready to assist in this area. We are ready and we are waiting patiently for the new government to talk to us about how to fulfil his proclamation of making certain parts of Nigeria to be the future environment of Taiwan as a nation or in Africa.”
He asked the administration to sign a mutual investment agreement to affirm the seriousness of the Nigerian government. He also highlighted that investors should be invited to come in and conduct the investment review or probe under the auspices of the incumbent government.
He also expressed his country’s willingness to share its sophisticated and core semiconductor and microchip technologies with Nigeria.
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Taiwan’s requirements for partnership with Nigeria
According to the envoy, Taiwan and Nigeria share principles, and the two countries value democracy and freedom to ensure democratic elections are held on a regular basis.
“No matter what kind of difficulty or challenge that we might face, we do admire the way that Nigerians have carried out their constitutional rights to vote and to have it all counted and come out with a legitimate result of having a new President. We congratulate Nigeria’s democracy, including the emergence of a new National Assembly and governors.
“For Taiwan people, we watched closely on what Nigeria has done this year because we are having our own democratic election for a new president and our new parliament at the end of this year and early next year. Taiwan and Nigeria share things in common, not just values but a system of democracy. Our new President is going to get inaugurated in May next year, and you just had yours.
“We are expecting your new government to carry out the few things that would promote a deeper relationship between Taiwan and Nigeria. First of all, the mutual investment agreement Taiwan and Nigeria, which was signed in 1994, had been renewed into a new draft, especially from your Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment.
“The content has already been negotiated through a very capable international training and investment negotiation between Nigeria and Taiwan. Now, we are waiting to see that it is signed very soon. So, I think probably, that is one of the news assignments that both Nigeria and Taiwan should work out soon.”
He confirmed the existence of several financial and banking activities between Nigeria and Taiwan, emphasising that both nations have expressed a strong desire to strengthen ties. We are working with your Chartered Institute of Bankers in Nigeria in addition to providing technology support and cooperation between Nigeria and Taiwan.