Photo courtesy of CNA;John Deng (right), Lee Ying-yuan
Brussels, June 27 (CNA) Two government ministers headed a large delegation to the European Parliament in Brussels on Tuesday where they discussed soliciting support for the forging of a bilateral investment agreement (BIA) between Taiwan and Europe.
Minister Without Portfolio John Deng and Environment Minister Lee Ying-yuan headed the 110-member delegation which attended the two-day EU-Taiwan Event on Industry of the Future on Monday and Tuesday.
After attending three seminars and several business matching events, Deng and Lee led the delegation to the European Parliament on Tuesday where they addressed 17 members of the European Parliament-Taiwan Friendship Group.
At the beginning of his speech, Deng thanked members of the group for their support of Taiwan, while seeking their backing for a Taiwan-Europe BIA.
Lee later stressed Taiwan's circular economy policy which he said is based on the five Rs--reduction, reuse, recycling, energy recovery, reclamation and redesign.
Lee said the government is striving to turn trash into recyclable resources, a goal it shares with the European Union (EU).
In return, Andrey Kovatchev, deputy chairman of the group, called Taiwan a good friend, saying he has visited and met with government officials and business leaders on several occasions.
The ties between Taiwan and Europe have been getting closer with the introduction of bilateral visa exemption arrangements, Kovatchev said, adding that he hopes the warming of relations will continue.
Earlier on Tuesday, Antti Peltomaki, deputy director-general of the Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG Growth) at the European Commission, said before the opening of a forum that Taiwan's circular economy policy and its renewable energy industry will be a focus for future business development, adding that he expects Taiwan-EU cooperation to yield impressive results.
