Taiwan's defense resilience committee to hold international forum

Taipei, Sept. 14 (CNA) The Presidential Office committee focused on civil defense and social resilience will host an international forum in Taipei on Saturday with the aim of fostering exchanges and collaboration.

The Presidential Office said in a statement Sunday that its Whole-of-Society Defense Resilience Committee, which met for the first time in September 2024, will hold the forum on the theme "Resilient Taiwan and Sustainable Democracy" to mark the committee's first anniversary.

The event will begin with a speech by President Lai Ching-te (賴清德), the office said.

Following that, Tzu Chi Foundation CEO and committee member Yen Po-wen (顏博文) will give a presentation at a seminar moderated by Forward Alliance Director Enoch Wu (吳怡農), National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Lin Fei-fan (林飛帆) was quoted as saying.

Yen will speak on Taiwan's disaster prevention and rescue capacity and recent efforts to bolster social resilience, Lin added.

Presidential Office spokesperson Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said that, under Lai's leadership, the committee has vigorously forged public-private partnerships and engaged in international exchanges with Japan, the United States and several European countries on issues ranging from disaster prevention to information security and energy security, according to the statement.

Another of the forum's themes is international collaboration, with discussions planned on space technology, disaster relief and prevention, energy security, and supply chain resilience.

The event is expected to bring together more than 20 international guests as well as 16 ambassadors and representatives to Taiwan.

Members of the U.S.-Taiwan Business Council, the Council of Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce in Europe and the Japanese Chamber of Commerce & Industry Taipei are also expected to attend.