Taiwan still assessing recruitment of Eswatini workers: MOFA

Taipei, May 26 (CNA) Taiwan's government is still assessing the recruitment of workers from Eswatini and is focused on upgrading vocational training in the African kingdom, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said Tuesday.

At a weekly press briefing, Department of West Asian and African Affairs head Yen Chia-liang (顏嘉良) said MOFA was working with the Ministry of Labor's Workforce Development Agency (WDA) to help strengthen workforce training in Eswatini.

Yen said that a WDA delegation was currently visiting Taiwan's sole African ally on a week-long trip to assess three vocational training centers there and the country's wider training needs.

So far, the government has found that Eswatini is focused on nurturing talent in the manufacturing, tourism, energy, and infrastructure sectors, Yen said.

The efforts are aimed at improving the employability of young Eswatinis so they can work for Taiwanese businesses operating in the planned "Taiwan Industrial Innovation Park" project in the African kingdom, Yen said.

Amid renewed speculation Taiwan is to begin sourcing workers from Eswatini, Yen said that a feasibility study on labor cooperation between the two countries was still in its early stages.

MOFA previously dismissed online rumors Taiwan had agreed to recruit 1,000 workers from Eswatini annually following President Lai Ching-te's (賴清德) trip to the kingdom earlier this month as "a classic case of disinformation" with "no basis in fact."

The 1,000-worker figure also appeared in a 2025 Eswatini Observer report.