March 3, 2016
No. 052
Fabrizio Cicchitto, President of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, is leading a delegation to Taiwan from March 1 to 4 at the invitation of the Republic of China government.
The delegation also includes deputies Sergio Pizzolante, Alessandro Pagano, Paolo Tancredi, Emanuele Prataviera, and Nicola Ciracì. These visitors, all of whom are influential in Italian political circles, have strongly supported Taiwan in Italy’s parliament.
The delegation will have an audience with President Ma Ying-jeou and call on President of the Legislative Yuan Su Jia-chyuan, Minister of Mainland Affairs Council Hsia Li-yan, Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Cho Shih-chao, Administrative Deputy Minister of Education Lin Teng-chiao, Secretary-General of the Democratic Progressive Party Joseph Wu, and Chairman of the Chinese International Economic Cooperation Association’s Taiwan-Italy Economic Cooperation Committee Chu Chi-yang. In addition, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Leo Chen-jan Lee will host a luncheon in their honor.
President Cicchitto will receive an honorary doctorate in law from Chinese Culture University in recognition of his academic and political status in Italy and his contributions to bilateral exchanges. This trip will provide these visitors with a better understanding of Taiwan’s recent political and economic developments, as well as advancements in cross-strait relations, helping foster more robust substantive exchanges between Taiwan and Italy in a wide range of areas.
Recent years have seen continued growth in bilateral trade and cultural exchanges. Taiwan and Italy completed due procedures December 31, 2015, on a double taxation avoidance and tax evasion agreement, which took effect the following day. The agreement is expected to spur greater bilateral investment, trade, technical exchanges, and tax cooperation. The National Palace Museum, meanwhile, held the Giuseppe Castiglione-Lang Shining New Media Art Exhibition in Florence, Italy, in October 2014. These achievements stand as testament to the close exchanges the two countries enjoy. (E)