Taiwan eyeing new INGO center to promote track-two diplomacy: MOFA

Taipei, June 3 (CNA) Taiwan's foreign ministry is looking for a location to establish a new international nongovernmental organization (INGO) center to attract more INGOs to Taiwan and promote unofficial diplomacy, a senior diplomat said Tuesday.

Charlie Chiang (江振瑋), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' (MOFA) Department of NGO International Affairs, said the ministry has been trying to get more INGOs to open offices in Taiwan since 2020.

Over the past five years, the ministry has helped 13 INGOs do so, and another 37 are in contact with MOFA to explore the idea, he said during MOFA's weekly news briefing.

Taiwan's government previously announced the opening of an INGO center in Wufeng District in Taichung in March 2018, but according to Chiang, the center is no longer functional due to a lack of funding.

The renovated building now rents out office space to whoever needs it.

Chiang said the ministry currently is eyeing several potential locations for the new INGO center, which has to be spacious enough to serve as home to multiple INGO offices should they decide to come to Taiwan.

Once the ministry has finalized the location, it will allocate funds in the fiscal year 2026 budget for its construction and opening, Chiang said.

Helping INGOs build a presence in Taiwan is important for the country in promoting track-two, or unofficial, diplomacy, according to the official.

MOFA is also planning to offer one-year rent subsidies to INGOs that set up shop in Taiwan and has been streamlining regulations to make the process easier, Chiang said.

For instance, an INGO's head, usually a foreign national, used to have to be granted residency by the government first before he could apply to establish an INGO office in Taiwan.

After a recent revision of related regulations, they can now apply to open an INGO office in Taiwan before being granted residency as long as they have MOFA's endorsement, Chiang said.

Rules have also been revised to lower the financial threshold for a foreign foundation to open an office in Taiwan, reducing the minimum assets required from the previous NT$30 million (US$1 million) to the current NT$15 million.

MOFA has also set up a bilingual website https://www.taiwanngo.tw to offer one-stop service to help INGOs apply to open an office in Taiwan, he said.