Taiwan celebrates 30 years of government-funded foreign aid agency

Taipei, July 1 (CNA) Taiwan on Wednesday celebrated the 30th anniversary of the founding of its government-funded foreign aid agency, the TaiwanICDF, while pledging to continue to provide foreign aid to countries around the world.

Speaking at a ceremony marking the occasion, Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍), whose ministry oversees the TaiwanICDF, said the agency's establishment represented a shift toward more professional and institutionalized foreign aid efforts in Taiwan.

"Over the past 30 years, through a succession of international cooperation projects, we have shared resources and grown alongside the global community, while translating values such as democracy, freedom, and human rights into concrete actions."

Taiwan was once a recipient of foreign aid, particularly from the United States, but today, it is renowned globally for its semiconductor and artificial intelligence industries, Lin said.

He said Taiwan looked forward to working with and growing alongside its partners based on the "Taiwan Model," which Lin defined as resting on four key pillars: capacity building, social empowerment, smart solutions, and co-prosperity.

"We seek mutually beneficial partnerships, looking forward to walking side by side with our partners and sharing the fruits of growth and prosperity."

"The 30th anniversary marks not only a milestone but also a new starting point," Lin said, expressing hope that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' slogan, "Taiwan Can Help, Partners Can Lead," will further deepen partnerships with countries around the world.

Meanwhile, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Raymond Greene said in his address that the United States worked with Taiwan from 1951 to 1965 to help the country grow and flourish after World War II.

Since the TaiwanICDF's founding 30 years ago, Greene said, Taiwan has been a transparent and effective partner in jointly providing technical assistance to countries in need.

"We have been working together to support development where the United States is already engaged. We also share strong alignment on international security, industrial security, public health, and supply chain resilience," he said.

According to the TaiwanICDF, Taiwan's overseas development assistance efforts began in 1959 when MOFA dispatched agricultural technical missions to the Republic of Vietnam to support agricultural development.

It then created similar missions in Africa in 1961 and in Latin America in 1963, and in 1972 it combined the African and Latin American technical groups into the Overseas Technical Cooperation Organization.

In the late 1980s, the government established the Overseas Economic Cooperation Development Fund to provide financial assistance to developing partner countries.

The Cabinet then proposed consolidating all of Taiwan's foreign aid programs into a single agency to improve coordination, and the TaiwanICDF formally began operations on July 1, 1996.

Today, Taiwan provides technical, medical, agricultural, and financial assistance to developing countries around the world, primarily focusing on its diplomatic allies in the Pacific, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Africa.