On Oct. 21, 2022, Minister of Economic Affairs Mei-Hua Wang met with H.R.H. King Mswati III of Eswatini, expressing appreciation for His Majesty's support for and contributions to Taiwan.
Minister Wang extended a warm welcome to King Mswati III on his first visit to Taiwan since June 2018. She noted that there has been much economic interaction between Taiwan and Eswatini and that many bilateral cooperation projects are being carried. For example, an ongoing collaborative project is aimed at enhancing the efficiency of the Eswatini Royal Science and Technology Park's one-stop services. A team of Taiwan experts is scheduled to head to Eswatini at the end of this year to conduct on-site assessment and provide consultations to RSTP and related government agency officials under the project.
In addition, the Minister said she personally led a delegation of industrial experts and business representatives on a visit to Eswatini in 2018 to provide industrial development consultations and explore potential business opportunities and partnerships. Furthermore, after the signing of the Taiwan-Eswatini Economic Cooperation Agreement (ECA) the same year, bilateral trade grew by 136% over the next four years, with Eswatini exports to Taiwan registering an impressive 36-fold increase for the period, clearly indicating the positive benefits of the accord. Moreover, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) plans to organize a delegation of Taiwanese food processing and textile industry enterprises to visit Eswatini next year to explore business and partnership opportunities.
King Mswati III thanked Minister Wang for her hospitality and stated that as the COVID-19 pandemic situation abates, Taiwan and Eswatini can continue their existing cooperation. With respect to the RSTP's one-stop service, noting that expediting of the investment review process, cross-government agency participation, and regulatory easing are all important to improving service efficiency, he expressed Eswatini's thanks for Taiwan sharing its experience and recommendations. His Majesty added that he hopes the RSTP's improved services will attract more foreign direct investment, including from Taiwanese enterprises. As for the training of high-tech talent, King Mswati III said Eswatini will continue to borrow from Taiwan's experience to help improve his country's industry development prospects, adding that he believes continuing cooperation between Taiwan and Eswatini will generate even more win-win outcomes in the future.
The Kingdom of Eswatini is one of Taiwan's important economic and trade partners in Africa. The two sides have maintained formal diplomatic relations for more than half a century. They have signed a bilateral ECA and regularly hold ministerial-level economic and technical cooperation meetings and Joint Committee Meetings on the ECA to discuss ways to enhance and expand the scope of their exchanges and collaboration in a wide range of fields. Minister Wang and King Mswati III both affirmed the mutually beneficial partnership between their two countries during their meeting which concluded in an atmosphere of warm and friendly exchanges.