Taipei, Oct. 23 (CNA) Nearly 30 Taiwanese legislators on Friday formed a friendship group to strengthen exchanges with their counterparts in Switzerland through parliamentary diplomacy.
The Republic of China (ROC)-Switzerland Inter-Parliamentary Amity Association was launched in a ceremony at the Legislative Yuan and elected Hsu Chang Yu-Mei (張育美) of the Kuomintang (KMT) as its head.
The ROC is the formal designation of Taiwan.
"I think Taiwan and Switzerland can build better economic, tourism and cultural exchanges," Hsu Chang said at the ceremony.
Hsu Chang hoped her group and its counterpart in Switzerland, the Parliamentary Intergroup Switzerland-Taiwan, can visit each other when the COVID-19 pandemic subsides.
Meanwhile, five Swiss legislators and Taiwan's representative to the European country David Huang (黃偉峰) sent congratulatory messages via video recordings.
"It is important to strengthen, even at the parliamentary level, the relations between our two nations," said Nicolas Walder, co-chair of the Parliamentary Intergroup Switzerland-Taiwan.
Also in the video, Fabian Molina, vice chair of the Swiss group, expressed his appreciation for Taiwan's support for the Swiss people during the tough days of the pandemic.