Premier Su Tseng-chang on Monday received Patrick Rumlar, head of the Czech Economic and Cultural Office Taipei, and thanked him for his efforts in fostering Taiwan-Czech relations and exchanges during his four-year tenure in Taiwan. The premier also thanked the Czech government and parliament for speaking out in support of Taiwan and calling for Taiwan's participation in the World Health Organization (WHO) and other international bodies.
The Czech Republic is Taiwan's fourth largest investment destination in Europe, the premier said, and the value of trade between our two countries has increased substantially in recent years. Contacts and exchanges have been on the rise, due for instance to the Taiwanese people who love traveling abroad. The premier hopes Representative Rumlar will continue to promote the development of Taiwan-Czech tourism after returning to his home country. In light of the flourishing growth in the Czech science and technology industry, the premier also hopes the two countries can further strengthen cooperation in relevant fields.
The premier thanked the Czech government and parliament for supporting Taiwan's international participation. The Czech Senate, for instance, passed numerous resolutions supporting Taiwan's participation in the WHO and other international bodies. A Czech Republic representative speaking at this year's World Health Assembly also advocated for Taiwan to be granted observer status. These actions to speak out and stand up for Taiwan are very meaningful, Premier Su said.
On the topic of the Russia-Ukraine war, authoritarian Russia's brutal invasion of neighboring Ukraine has created millions of refugees. The premier hopes Taiwan and the Czech Republic can work together to help the Ukrainian refugees and fight side by side for freedom, peace and democracy.
In his remarks, Representative Rumlar said the Czech Republic has accomplished a great deal working together with Taiwanese partners, and it was his privilege to serve a four-year post in Taiwan. The Czech Republic and Taiwan are traditionally close partners and are united by belief in the same values such as democracy and human rights. The representative traced the two countries' close ties back to late Czech president Vaclav Havel's visit to Taiwan in 2004. Since then, Taiwan and the Czech Republic have expanded cooperation in many areas such as trade, investment, culture, science and research, and have also kicked off new collaborations involving smart cities, artificial intelligence, smart forestry and smart agriculture.
Before COVID, Representative Rumlar said, the Czech Republic had the pleasure to welcome around 200,000 Taiwanese tourists each year, and there is also growing interest on the part of Czech travelers to visit Taiwan. He emphasized that the Czech Republic is very interested in deepening cooperation and pointed out that Taiwan is explicitly listed by the Czech government as a democratic partner in the Indo-Pacific, alongside countries including Japan, South Korea and India. The representative also said the Czech Republic would love to have a direct flight connection between Taipei and Prague because it would bring the people of our two countries closer and make contact much easier.