On July 12 the Taipei Representative Office in the EU & Belgium welcomed 23 EU officials to attend an orientation meeting in preparation of their trip to Taiwan. At the end of the month this group would leave for Taipei to take part in the 2017 Taiwan Study Seminar or the 2017 Mandarin Training Program for EU officials.

The meeting began with welcome remarks by Representative Harry Tseng, who encouraged all this year’s participants to enjoy their stay in Taiwan and to absorb all the beauty, culture and wonderful cuisine his country has to offer, as well as learning more about different aspects of Taiwan, its economic, social, and international situation, and recent developments. The participants were then given an introduction to Taiwan’s beauty through a short video.

After the video, Mr. Frank Cunningham and Ms. Teodora Balau, both of whom participated in the Mandarin Training Program in 2016, and Mr. Emanuel Gerth, who participated in the Taiwan Study Seminar in 2016, each shared details of their academic and travel experiences in Taiwan. They gave useful tips to help to provide a deeper sense of what the EU officials could expect on their visit and replied to the many questions the participants had.

The Taiwan Study Seminar began in 2007 and the Mandarin Training Program began the following year, and so far more than 200 officials have participated in one or both. Taiwan Study Seminar participants come to Taiwan for a five-day introduction to Taiwan’s political, socio-economic and educational developments. The Mandarin Training program lasts for ten days and explores Taiwan’s culture and language. These two programs have helped the ties between the EU and Taiwan to deepen significantly. The classes and extracurricular activities provided greatly increase the participants’ general knowledge of Taiwan, and having meetings with their counterparts in Taiwan gives them a better understanding of day-to-day functioning in Taiwan, which in turn provides opportunities for better informed exchanges about good practices, and for networking.

Photo：Mr. Emanuel Gerth from EACEA talks about his stay in Taiwan as a participant in the 2016 Taiwan Study Seminar