MOFA Deputy Minister Tsai Ming-yen (front, third left) gives the thumbs-up alongside officials from Taiwan, Australia, Japan and the U.S. during the annual Global Cooperation and Training Framework Joint Committee Meeting in Taipei City Dec. 7. (MOFA)
 

Taiwan, Australia, Japan and the U.S. held the annual Global Cooperation and Training Framework Joint Committee Meeting Dec. 7 in Taipei City, reviewing the results of 2022’s workshops and planning for the year ahead.

The event involved Tsai Ming-yen, deputy minister of foreign affairs; Douglas Yu-tien Hsu, director general of the ministry’s Department of North American Affairs; Jeremy Cornforth, deputy director of the American Institute in Taiwan; Ono Risako, director of the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association’s Political Division; and Michael Googan, deputy representative of the Australian Office, Taipei.

Tsai said that the world faces severe challenges like the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain restructuring, highlighting the significance of Taiwan’s cooperation with other countries under the GCTF to contribute to the global community. It is anticipated that an increasing number of countries will participate in the framework to achieve global freedom, prosperity and security, he added.

Following the meeting, a joint statement released by the MOFA, the AIT, JTEA and AOT said seven GCTF events were held in 2022, with Canada, Israel, Slovakia, the EU, the Netherlands and the U.K. as co-host partners. Three separate events were staged in India, Israel and St. Lucia under the GCTF franchise model and were equally successful, it added.

According to the document, workshops will center on humanitarian response and disaster relief; internet freedom; law enforcement cooperation; anti-maritime disaster measures; pandemic preparedness; sustainable aviation; and sustainable development in the coming year.

Since the GCTF’s establishment June 1, 2015, a total of 55 workshops spanning areas of overlapping Taiwan-Australia-Japan-U.S. interests have been organized for over 6,000 participants from 120-plus countries worldwide. (YCH-E)