Hot air balloons are pictured at a promotional event in southern Taiwan’s Kaohsiung City in this undated photo. A nighttime concert featuring hot air balloons will be held June 10 in Taipei City’s Liberty Square to promote the launch of the Taiwan International Balloon Festival in southeastern Taiwan’s Taitung County June 30. (Courtesy of Taitung County Government)

Representative Chang, James Chi-ping (second from the left) attended the “Launching Ceremony of New Southbound Office of Taiwan Pharmaceutical Manufacturer’s Association” in Kuala Lumpur on 3 June, 2017

Co-organized by Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) under the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the five-day event welcomed 41,378 international visitors from 167 countries, up 1 percent from last year. Of the leading visitor source countries, Thailand topped the growth list with a gain of 30.63 percent, followed by Indonesia at 22.52 percent, India at 20.86 percent and Vietnam at 20.44 percent.

Taiwan’s exports to the 18 countries covered by the government’s New Southbound Policy picked up more steam during the first four months of the year, reflecting the effectiveness of the initiative in driving the local economy, according to the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics June 2.

The Cabinet approved June 1 a four-year wind power promotion plan that aims to increase Taiwan’s installed turbine capacity to 1.334 gigawatts by 2020.

SEEK Foundation coordinator Mrs. Mary Vasantha Kumari Jothi called on Director General Charles Li on 1st June 2017 to share the experiences of attending the ICDF workshops on “Women Enterprises Development”. Director General Charles Li congratulated her to win the best participant award of the workshop.

Taiwan is the 14th most competitive economy in the World Competitiveness Yearbook published May 31 by Switzerland-based International Institute for Management Development.

The vast majority of Taiwan was officially recognized by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) as foot-and-mouth disease-free at the 85th OIE General Session May 25 in Paris, according to the Cabinet-level Council of Agriculture.

Mosaic Taiwan, an international youth leadership program organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, kicked off May 31 in Taipei City, bringing together 29 young students and professionals from Canada and the U.S. to experience the country’s culture, economy, history and society.

A short film highlighting the various attractions and urban vitality of Taipei was released May 25 as part of an official campaign aimed at promoting the city in the lead-up to the 2017 Taipei Summer Universiade—the largest global sporting event ever staged in Taiwan.