CNA president Chang Jui-chang (張瑞昌, left) and Murat Baklaci, representative of the Turkish Trade Office in Taipei.

Taipei, Nov. 9 (CNA) Taiwan's Central News Agency (CNA) announced on Friday that it will soon restore a correspondence bureau in Turkey, with the aim of expanding its media coverage of the country and region to serve readers in Taiwan.

Speaking to visiting representative of the Turkish Trade Office in Taipei, Murat Baklaci, CNA president Chang Jui-chang (張瑞昌) expressed hope that the bureau will also help contribute to the development of relations between the two countries.

Chang told Baklaci that the agency had already signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with its Turkish counterpart, Anadolu Agency (AA), in Taipei in 2016.

Under the MOU, the two news agencies will share text news, photos and videos with each other.

As Taiwan's national news agency, CNA has a mission to strengthen exchanges with news media from around the world, and reports by Turkey's state-run agency have helped the world learn more about events there, Chang said.

The Central News Agency had an office in Ankara in the 1980s, but the bureau was closed due to financial reasons.

The restoration of an office in Turkey, meanwhile, reflects CNA's commitment to providing timely and reliable news stories of the Middle East, where Turkey is an important player, he added.

Baklaci noted that roughly 70,000 Taiwanese visited his country last year, and that number is expected to reach 100,000 by year end.

Relations between Turkey and Taiwan have improved in recent years, not only in the field of culture, but also in trade, economy, tourism and academic activities, Baklaci said.

He added that the two agencies can play important roles in relaying those close ties to the public.

(By Elaine Hou and Ko Lin)
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