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ROC, US sign Pacific Islands leadership pact

Ting Joseph Shih (right), president of the Institute of Diplomacy and International Affairs, and Charles Morrison, president of the East-West Center, display the memorandum of understanding inked between the two sides. (MOFA)

• Publication Date：12/14/2012
• Source： Taiwan Today
• By  Grace Kuo

The Institute of Diplomacy and International Affairs under the ROC Ministry of Foreign Affairs and U.S. think tank the East-West Center signed a memorandum of understanding on a Pacific Islands Leadership Partnership program Dec. 13.

The plan will provide intensive training for 125 prospective young leaders in the region over the next five years, the MOFA said.

“This program is the first project on international development jointly created by Taiwan and the U.S. since U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Rajiv Shah’s visit to Taiwan in December 2011,” Ting Joseph Shih, president of the IDIA, said at the signing ceremony in Taipei City.

Consensus on the plan was reached during the 2012 Pacific Islands Forum held Aug. 28-31 in the Cook Islands, he noted, adding that “this cooperation underscores the amicable relationship between the U.S. and Taiwan.

“With this program, we hope to build a network of high-level human resources in the Pacific Islands and expand the horizons of up-and-coming talent in the region.”

Shih said Pacific Island countries face challenges including “stalled economic growth, inadequate infrastructure, grain and food shortages, over reliance on foreign aid, and vulnerability to natural disasters, especially in the advent of global warming and the resulting rise in sea levels.”

Nevertheless, they have development potential thanks to “many natural advantages, such as widespread waters and abundant fishery and aquatic resources,” he continued.

Taiwan, with a strong track record in the development of fisheries resources, agriculture and renewable energy, can provide valuable assistance, Shih said.

Under the program, trainees will spend two months at the EWC in Honolulu and one month at the IDIA from September to November 2013.

“The training curriculum at this institute will focus on Taiwan’s experience in areas such as economy, technology, ecology, environmental protection, renewable energy, cultural preservation and community development,” he said. (THN)

Write to Grace Kuo at mlkuo@mofa.gov.tw