TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) confirmed Tuesday that Taiwan was moving ahead with plans to open a representative office in Cebu, Philippines by the end of the year.
Media reports said Monday that Taipei planned to establish its second office in the country amid deepening bilateral ties. Lin told a radio program Tuesday that the plan was “ongoing” and would support the development of a Taiwan-Philippines Economic Corridor.
Taiwan’s only representative office in the Philippines is currently in Manila, in the northern part of the country. However, the southern Philippines is also home to many Taiwanese expatriates and businesspeople and receives many Taiwanese tourists who may require assistance, Lin said.
The minister added that the two countries had granted each other’s citizens visa-free entry and signed an agreement on avoiding double taxation during his tenure, per Liberty Times.
Lin said Taiwan would develop its own economic corridor in response to the US-Japan-Philippines Luzon Economic Corridor. The Taiwan-Philippines corridor would facilitate the movement of people, goods, and capital, he said.
Lin also said both countries faced pressure from China and were closely interconnected along the first island chain.
