The Executive Yuan today announced that it had designated Taipei Songshan Airport, Kaohsiung International Airport, Taichung Airport, Port of Keelung and Port of Taichung as the nation's second-phase ports and harbors in which to establish International Health Regulation (IHR) core capacities.
In order to do so, the government will enhance these hubs' communications and coordination, periodical reconnaissance and public-security-incident response capabilities in order to meet IHR standards and protect the lives and property of citizens.
The IHR is promulgated by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Executive Yuan stated. Though the ROC is not a WHO member, it has spared no efforts to participate in international affairs; to fulfill its obligations to the international community and raise the competitiveness of the nation's ports and harbors, the Executive Yuan in early 2011 approved the first-phase IHR core capacities plan, selecting Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and the Port of Kaohsiung as the nation's first two IHR-standard ports.
Through cross-central-ministry and cross-port-agency bi-directional integration, these hubs' core capacities were set up step by step, earning high praise from international experts. To pass on this precious experience to other ports and harbors, the Executive Yuan approved the second-phase plan in 2014.
The Executive Yuan stated it is establishing IHR core capacities to effectively bar public-security threats from endangering the country. It convened a symposium on the project today in which a detailed introduction of the ROC's progress was provided and experience and explorations concerning major issues such as bio-nuclear-disaster management, professional response capacities as well as the formation of port and harbor partnership relations were shared and discussed.
Minister without Portfolio Chiang Been-huang, who presided over the symposium, stated that experts from home and abroad, officials from central and local government agencies, and representatives from both public- and private-run port and harbor organizations were invited to share and pass down the IHR core capacity experiences gained from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and the Port of Kaohsiung to the second-phase ports and harbors. It is hoped that these five locations, with their outstanding traditions and through solidarity, cooperation and joint efforts, can continue to improve on existing foundations and thus effectively raise their core capacities.