TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) met Almere Mayor Hein van der Loo in the Netherlands to look for ways to work together on tech development, CNA reported Monday.

According to the Tainan City Government, Huang said Tainan and Almere have kept close ties since signing a friendship city agreement in 2009. He also pointed to historical links dating to 1624 that shaped early relations between Taiwan and the Netherlands.

Van der Loo said Almere is getting ready for its 50th year as a city and is now drawing up plans for its first high-tech campus. He said the city wants to bring together schools, housing, and industry in one place.

Taipei Representative to the Netherlands Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said Tainan excels in both fruit farming and high-tech fields. Tien suggested Almere send a visiting group and said the envoy team helped move city diplomacy forward.

Almere has turned reclaimed land into a modern urban area with business and housing. The youngest city in the Netherlands now promotes low-carbon and circular-economy projects to deal with climate change.

In 1624, the Dutch East India Company set up a base in present-day Tainan after seizing control of part of Taiwan’s southwest coast. Their rule introduced new trade links and urban planning, marking the start of formal contact between Taiwan and the Netherlands.