December 17, 2021
No. 280
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) of the Republic of China (Taiwan), the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association (JTEA), the American Institute in Taiwan’s Taipei Office (AIT/T), and the Australian Office Taipei held the 2021 Global Cooperation and Training Framework (GCTF) Joint Committee Meeting in Taipei on December 17. They were joined virtually by officials in Tokyo, Washington, DC, and Canberra. This marked the first time that the meeting was hosted by the JTEA and the first time that Australia participated as a full GCTF partner.
Deputy Foreign Minister Harry Ho-jen Tseng delivered opening remarks on MOFA’s behalf, welcoming Australia’s participation in the Joint Committee Meeting as a full partner for the first time. He also expressed pleasure that Taiwan hosted 13 virtual GCTF events this year and that Canada, Israel, Slovakia, and the United Kingdom served as cohosts of individual events for the first time. In addition, he noted that three separate GCTF franchise events were held for the first time in the Czech Republic, Eswatini, and Saint Christopher and Nevis.
Key speakers at the Joint Committee Meeting included Douglas Yu-tien Hsu, Director General of MOFA’s Department of North American Affairs; Akira Yokochi, Deputy Representative of JTEA; Jeremy Cornforth, Deputy Director of AIT/T; and Michael Googan, Deputy Representative of the Australian Office Taipei. Also joining in the discussions were partners that will be cohosting GCTF events next year, including the Executive Yuan Department of Gender Equality, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Ocean Affairs Council, the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau, the Food and Fertilizer Technology Center for the Asian and Pacific Region, and the Institute for Information Industry.
The four participating countries at the meeting reviewed the many accomplishments of this year’s GCTF activities and discussed priority areas of cooperation for the coming year, as well as ways to further expand the GCTF. For 2022, it was decided to hold workshops on law enforcement, public health, sustainable oceans, gender equality, smart agriculture, internet freedom, the digital economy, and other issues. Concrete details for each event will be announced by MOFA at the appropriate times.
Since the GCTF was established on June 1, 2015, a total of 45 international workshops have been attended by nearly 3,500 government officials and experts from 100 countries. The GCTF has achieved remarkable success, having grown significantly in terms of topics and domains covered and the number of countries involved, making it an important global platform for international cooperation. Taiwan welcomes the participation of even more like-minded countries and the expansion of the scope of cooperation under the GCTF. (E)
Attachments: Joint Statement on the 2021 Global Cooperation and Training Framework (GCTF) Joint Committee Meeting (Chinese, English, and Japanese versions)