Taiwan and the United States will hold for the first time a foreign convention of the Global Framework for Cooperation and Training (GCTF) in Latin America and the Caribbean, with Guatemala as host country, the Chancellery reported yesterday.
Cooperation includes the virtual economy, COVID-19 prevention, virtual infrastructure development, Internet security, women’s empowerment and 5G communications technology, among the issues, the ministry said in a statement.
The GCTF was introduced across Taiwan and the United States in 2015 to bring Taiwan’s experience and leadership to the world stage.
Photo taken from a video from the Western Hemisphere Bureau of Affairs.
Japan joined the platform last year as a full partner, while Sweden and Australia joined as co-host countries, the ministry said.
On Wednesday night, Vice-Chancellor Miguel Tsao (曹 傑), Guatemalan Vice-Chancellor Shirley Aguilar and U.S. Deputy Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Julie Chung made a simultaneous announcement of the convention on Twitter.
However, the timing was not announced due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Latin America and the Caribbean, a region with many Taiwanese diplomatic allies, is in favor of its foreign relations, as the nation’s allies have long supported their candidacy for foreign organizations, Tsao said in a video posted on Twitter.
“For this reason, we only need to continue to deepen and expand the Taiwan-US-Japan partnership, but we also hope that the good fortune of the GCTF in recent years can be extended to our diplomatic allies and friends in the region,” Tsao told me.
Chung said in a separate video that the United States, Taiwan and Japan would hold a series of virtual seminars in the coming months before a physical convention in Guatemala, if the pandemic allowed it.
Aguilar said in some other video that Guatemala was content to host the convention and provide industry and investment opportunities in the country.
Since 2015, 24 workshops have been held abroad under the GCTF, involving more than 600 government officials and experts from 39 countries, the ministry said.