Taiwan, Lithuania resume talks on new investment action plan

Taipei, July 28 (CNA) Taiwan and Lithuania have resumed negotiations on a new economic cooperation action plan after talks were temporarily suspended, Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) confirmed Monday.

In a statement provided to CNA, MOFA said discussions on the initiative, which Lithuania proposed in March to strengthen bilateral economic ties, have restarted following the approval of Lithuania's new Cabinet by the country's parliament on July 14.

"Taiwan remains committed to deepening bilateral economic and trade cooperation with Lithuania based on shared democratic values," the ministry said.

The statement came after Lithuania's public broadcaster, LRT, reported Saturday that negotiations, which had been on hold since June, had recently resumed.

According to LRT, Lithuania's Ministry of Foreign Affairs told the Baltic News Service that negotiations on the economic cooperation action plan are currently underway with the Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania.

The talks had stalled during a period of political transition in Lithuania.

On June 18, the ruling Social Democratic Party formed a new governing coalition with the Union of Democrats "For Lithuania" and the Farmers and Greens Union after the far-right Nemunas Dawn withdrew from the previous coalition earlier that month.

The new coalition led to the appointment of a Cabinet headed by Social Democratic Party Chairman Mindaugas Sinkevičius.

Lithuania first proposed the action plan in March, outlining priority industries and potential projects to expand economic cooperation with Taiwan.

According to LRT's earlier reporting, the proposal aims to establish "sustainable economic ties" that would support the development of Lithuania's high-tech industries, with a particular focus on attracting Taiwanese investment.

Specific details of the plan, however, have not been made public.

In April, Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), director-general of MOFA's Department of European Affairs, said that most of the proposed initiatives build on existing Taiwan-Lithuania cooperation in areas including laser technology, medical artificial intelligence, and financial technology (fintech).