“Very intense preparation” is being undertaken to open the planned Lithuanian trade office in Taiwan, visiting Lithuanian Vice Minister of Economy and Innovation Karolis Žemaitis said Friday at the opening of the Lithuanian Lifestyle Festival in Taipei.
Žemaitis, who arrived in Taiwan last Saturday with a business delegation for a seven-day trip, said the newly appointed head of the planned Lithuanian Trade Representative Office in Taipei, Paulius Lukauskas, was making “very intensive preparation to open up the trade office here.”
“This is a very important step for us, for both [Lithuania and Taiwan]…We will have very intense weeks of preparation,” Žemaitis added, though he did not specify any date for when the office would open.
Žemaitis, the latest of Lithuanian deputy minister-level officials to visit Taiwan this year, was responding to a question from the media about whether there was a delay in the opening of the trade office.
Earlier in July, Lithuania’s then-Vice Economy and Innovation Minister Jovita Neliupsiene was cited by media in her country as saying that Vilnius was planning to open a trade office in Taipei on Sept. 12.
Speaking about the planned trade office, Remus Chen (陳立國), director-general of the Department of European Affairs at Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), told a press briefing on Tuesday that the space had been leased but equipment was still being installed.
Chen said since Lukauskas had officially assumed the post, the trade office “basically can be seen as having begun operations.”
Lukauskas arrived in Taiwan in early September after having been appointed to lead the office on Aug. 17, and was reported to have applied to MOFA for diplomatic documentation on Monday.
The director-general nevertheless declined to comment on whether Vilnius would hold a plaque-unveiling ceremony for the trade office when it actually opens.
The Lithuanian Lifestyle Festival, which will last through Sept. 29, features food and grocery products from 20 Lithuanian brands, according to the main organizer, Taiwan External Trade Development Council.
At the opening, the Food Distributors Association of Taiwan and LitFOOD, the Lithuanian food agency, signed a memorandum of understanding that they said would pave the way for further trade exchanges between Taiwanese food suppliers and their Lithuanian counterparts.
Addressing the event, Žemaitis stressed that his visit to Taiwan was focused on bolstering business engagement and economic collaboration between Lithuania and Taiwan.
There is “a lot of potential” for high-tech cooperation between the two sides, Žemaitis went on, and they had begun “important talks” on a possible partnership, which were “on a very good track.”
Žemaitis’ visit, which wrapped up as he departed Taiwan later on Friday, came about a month after Lithuanian Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications Agnė Vaiciukevičiūtė was sanctioned by the Chinese government for a visit to Taiwan in early August that Beijing described as “an egregious and provocative act.”
Beijing also announced on Aug. 12 — the day after Vaiciukevičiūtė completed her five-day trip — that it would suspend all forms of exchanges with the Lithuanian Ministry of Transport and Communications of Lithuania and cooperation with the Baltic state in international road transport.
Asked whether he had received any warnings from China before his Taiwan trip, Žemaitis said only that he was not “in any contact with any of the Chinese representatives.”
Lithuania has come under heavy political and economic pressure from Beijing after allowing Taiwan to open a representative office in Vilnius with the name “Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania” in 2021.
Taiwan typically names its overseas representative offices “Taipei Economic and Cultural Office” or “Taipei Representative Office,” in keeping with the host countries’ preference to avoid any references that would anger Beijing by implying that Taiwan is a separate country from China.
Recent punitive measures imposed by the Chinese authorities on the Baltic nation have included recalling its ambassador to Lithuania, downgrading diplomatic relations, expelling the Lithuanian ambassador to China, as well as banning Lithuanian products from entering the Chinese market.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel