Ex-Denmark, Slovenia PMs to speak at 2025 Yushan Forum: MOFA

Taipei, March 16 (CNA) Former Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen and former Slovenian Prime Minister Ivan Janša are among those set to speak at the annual Yushan Forum in Taipei from Monday to Tuesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said Sunday.

Other big names appearing at the Taiwan government-funded forum include Czech Republic Senator Pavel Fischer, former Polish Foreign Minister Anna Fotyga, and former Lithuanian Deputy Foreign Minister Mantas Adomėnas, MOFA said in a news release.

Former Canadian Health Minister Tony Clement, and veteran Japanese lawmaker Keiji Furuya, who chairs the 270-member Japan-ROC Diet Members' Consultative Council, will also join the event, MOFA added.

President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) and Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) will both speak at the forum on Monday, MOFA said.

According to MOFA's Sunday news release, the eighth edition of the Yushan Forum this year will expand the concept of Taiwan's New Southbound Policy to include more global partners.

The New Southbound Policy was launched by former President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in 2016 to promote trade and investment, and people-to-people ties with 18 countries in the absence of formal diplomatic relations.

The countries originally targeted by the New Southbound Policy were Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Australia, and New Zealand.

This year the Yushan Forum is to be held under the theme of "New Southbound Policy+: Taiwan, the Indo-Pacific, and a New World."

MOFA said that this year's forum aims to include more like-minded partners in discussions on how Taiwan is taking advantage of smart, digital and innovative, solutions to promote the so-called "Digital New Southbound Policy."