Taipei, April 14 (CNA) In a meeting with Lithuania's new trade representative to Taiwan, Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) has pledged Taipei's willingness to promote closer bilateral ties, following a call by the Baltic state for more investment from Taiwan.
In a social media post Tuesday, Lin said he met with Karolis Pilipauskas, who took up his post as Lithuania's trade representative to Taiwan earlier this year, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) headquarters Monday.
Lin said the Lithuanian government had recently proposed an initiative to increase Taiwanese investment in the Baltic state and that MOFA was taking it very seriously.
"On behalf of Taiwan's government, we look forward to closer bilateral cooperation based on the existing foundation," Lin told the new envoy.
Lin said Taiwan hoped that the two sides would also continue to collaborate in semiconductor development, artificial intelligence, green energy, and drone technology to jointly enhance democratic supply chain resilience.
According to public records, before taking up his post in Taipei in February, Pilipauskas served as the sales and marketing director of the Klaipėda Free Economic Zone in the port city.
Relations between Taiwan and Lithuania have warmed in recent years after the two sides established reciprocal representative offices in Vilnius in 2021 and in Taipei in 2022.
Last week, Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of MOFA's Department of European Affairs, said the ministry had received a proposal in March calling for increased Taiwanese investment in Lithuania and that it was currently under review.
The projects listed under the proposal were built on existing bilateral cooperation in such fields as lasers, medical AI, and fintech.
Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT) reported April 1 that Lithuania's Foreign Ministry had prepared an action plan outlining priority economic sectors and potential projects aimed at strengthening cooperation with Taiwan.
According to MOFA, Taiwan has invested more than 16.8 million euros (US$19.35 million) in Lithuania since 2021.
