Taiwan congratulates Somaliland President-elect Abdullahi

Taipei, Nov. 26 (CNA) Taiwan's government has congratulated Somaliland President-elect Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi on his election win earlier this month and said it looks forward to enhancing bilateral ties with his new administration.

Wang Wen-lin (王文麟), an official with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' (MOFA) Department of West Asian and African Affairs, said Tuesday that Taiwan's office in Somaliland has extended the country's congratulations to the president-elect after Somaliland National Electoral Commission officially announced Abdullahi as the winner of the territory's Nov. 13 election on Nov. 19.

Abdullahi, 69, garnered 64 percent of the vote to become Somaliland's sixth president since it broke away from Somalia in 1991. The former speaker of Somaliland's parliament beat incumbent Muse Bihi Abdi, who took 35 percent of the vote.

Ties between Taiwan and Somaliland have warmed since the two sides set up representative offices in each other's capitals in 2020.

Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991 and has functioned as a de facto sovereign state ever since, but is not officially recognized by any other countries.

According to Wang, Taiwan and Somaliland have enjoyed robust relations and cooperation exchanges in areas covering public health, information and communications technology, agriculture, education and natural resource development.

Currently, there are two major projects Taiwan is working on in Somaliland, namely, the Taiwan Road project to refurbish the road linking the Egal International Airport and downtown Hargeisa, and the Taiwan Medical Mission to upgrade health care infrastructure, Wang said.

"Preparations for the two projects have been completed and we look forward to working with Somaliland's new government to officially start construction," Wang added.

During the campaign, Abdullahi said he would maintain Somaliland's relations with Taiwan. Abdullahi is scheduled to be inaugurated in December.

Abdullahi, popularly known as Irro, joined Somalia's foreign service in 1981 and later served as the country's acting ambassador to the Soviet Union.

Following the Somali civil war, Abdullahi fled to Finland before returning to Somaliland and entering politics as co-founder of the opposition Justice and Welfare Party (UCID) in 2002.

Abdullahi previously served 12 years as speaker of Somaliland's parliament and also unsuccessfully contested the territory's 2017 presidential election.