Premier Cho Jung-tai on Monday received a delegation from the Canadian Trade Office in Taipei (CTOT) led by Executive Director Marie-Louise Hannan. The premier stated that this year marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of CTOT. Over the past decades, both sides have achieved numerous substantial outcomes through cooperation, and he anticipates that Executive Director Hannan, during her tenure, will continue to deepen the bilateral partnership and promote more comprehensive and wide-ranging exchanges, including the swift signing of a trade cooperation framework agreement (TCFA) to help expand business opportunities for both sides.
Premier Cho also expressed hope that, based on the shared values and interests of Taiwan and Canada, the two nations can strengthen cooperation in additional key technological sectors in the future. Examples include combining Taiwan's semiconductor expertise with Canada's strong AI research and development capabilities to accelerate AI industry applications and ecosystem development; ensuring stable supplies of critical resources needed for semiconductors under the Collaborative Framework on Supply Chains Resilience; and advancing practical defense-industrial cooperation, including in drone supply chains, in alignment with Canada's first-ever Defence Industrial Strategy.
In her remarks, Executive Director Marie-Louise Hannan outlined the strong results of cooperation between Taiwan and Canada in recent years, including the signing of a memorandum of understanding on a Dark Vessel Detection (DVD) system to collaborate on issues related to maritime security and ocean health. Canada will also partner with Taiwan's Ministry of Justice to host a Global Cooperation and Training Framework (GCTF) workshop on transnational repression in late June, and it is continuing naval transits through the Taiwan Strait as one of the countries that most regularly conducts such operations.
Executive Director Hannan noted that in 2024, Canada established a cyber attach at CTOT to increase exchanges with Taiwanese cybersecurity agencies and jointly counter foreign information manipulation, and has also offered to provide support for Taiwan's upcoming local elections. Regarding economic and trade relations, she said that Taiwan and Canada will continue to deepen cooperation in diverse key areas including energy, agriculture, information and communications technology, semiconductors, aerospace and defense, while also supporting Canadian exports, attracting Taiwanese investment to Canada, and promoting innovation and research partnerships.