Taiwan opens 4th representative office in Canada

Toronto, Dec. 4 (CNA) Taiwan officially opened a representative office in Montreal on Monday, its fourth office in Canada, in part to build closer ties with the technology hub and support overseas Taiwanese in Quebec.

The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, Montreal, known in French as Le Bureau économique et culturel de Taipei à Montréal, officially opened in the largest city in the French-speaking province of Quebec.

The ceremony was hosted by Taiwan's representative to Canada Harry Tseng (曾厚仁) and office chief Rita Chen (陳珮瑩), who most recently served as Taiwan's deputy representative to New York.

In a pre-recorded address aired at Monday's ceremony, Foreign Minister Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said the latest office in Canada showed Taiwan's determination to expand its relations with the North American country on all fronts.

Tseng said the opening of the Montreal office came in response to years of anticipation from overseas Taiwanese in Quebec and reflected the high priority Taiwan's government puts on ties with Canada.

The ceremony was also attended by several Canadian parliamentarians, including Judy Sgro, chair of the Taiwan-Canada Parliamentary Friendship Group, Pierre Paul-Hus, Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay and Denis Trudel.

MOFA said it chose Montreal as the site for its latest office in Canada because it is the largest city in French-speaking Quebec, and is known as a technology hub, notably in video game and artificial intelligence development.

The city is also home to the headquarters of the International Civil Aviation Organization.

The Montreal office will be responsible for Quebec, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nunavut, and Saint-Pierre et Miquelon.

Taiwan's main representative office is in the Canadian capital of Ottawa and it also has branch offices in Toronto and Vancouver.

The Montreal office's address is 2310-1800 Avenue McGill College, Montréal, QC H3A 3J6, Canada and its phone number is +1-514-282-8008. Its website is https://www.roc-taiwan.org/cayul