TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Yushan Forum will kick off in Taipei on Wednesday (Oct. 8), with overseas speakers and guests taking part in the event virtually due to the ongoing pandemic.

President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and Vice President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) are expected to deliver remarks at the forum, which features the theme of “Forging a Resilient Future Together” in view of the global public health crisis that has shaken up the world throughout this year. Malcolm Turnbull, former Australian prime minister; Carl Bildt, former Swedish prime minister; as well as Anders Fogh Rasmussen, former secretary-general of NATO, will give keynote speeches during the smaller and shortened event.

Prominent political figures and scholars from the U.S, Europe, Japan, and several neighboring countries will join foreign envoys in Taipei and Taiwanese officials to discuss potential cross-national cooperation in the post-COVID era. The areas of cooperation may include the economy, public health, talent incubation, and agricultural development, according to the organizer Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation (TAEF).

The TAEF, a state-funded organization founded in 2018 to promote the government’s New Southbound Policy, will also ink a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian National Maritime Foundation (NMF). Under the agreement, the two organizations will form a working group to promote dialogue and collaborations between Taiwan and India in areas that are of interest to both countries, TAEF said.