Chen Ming-chi
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
Republic of China (Taiwan)
December 3, 2025
(As Prepared for Delivery)
The Honorable João Pinho de Almeida, Pedro Correia, and Rui Rocha, members of the Parliament of Portugal;
Distinguished guests;
Ladies and gentlemen:
Good evening!
On behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it is a great pleasure to host this dinner reception. A Portuguese parliamentary delegation last visited in 2023. I extend my sincere appreciation to Mr. Pinho de Almeida for leading Portugal’s first parliamentary delegation to Taiwan since the completion of legislative elections in May. Your presence symbolizes our nations’ friendship and will surely do much to deepen cooperation.
Taiwan and Portugal share a unique historical bond. In the 16th century, Portuguese sailors en route to Japan surveyed Taiwan’s lush mountain scenery from their ship and named this island Ilha Formosa—the beautiful island. Taiwan continues to take great pride in this heritage. It forms a meaningful foundation for our countries’ contemporary partnership, which is based on such common values as democracy, the rule of law, and human rights.
In recent years, ties between Taiwan and Europe have grown closer than ever, yielding significant results in trade, investment, and high-tech sectors. Last year, bilateral trade between Taiwan and the European Union stood at 67.7 billion US dollars, making the EU our fourth-largest trading partner. A cumulative total of 60 billion US dollars of foreign direct investment also made the EU our largest source of FDI. And we were delighted to see trade between Taiwan and Portugal reach 826 million US dollars, reflecting steady growth and opportunities. One notable investment has been the acquisition of Portuguese cement company Cimpor by Taiwan Cement Corporation. This is allowing us to expand research and development efforts toward the production of low-carbon cement.
The strong support for Taiwan from the current session of the Portuguese Parliament has also been profoundly encouraging. In June, Vice President of the Portuguese Parliament Rodrigo Saraiva urged your government to deepen engagement with Taiwan. And over the past three months, friends in the Portuguese Parliament have submitted Taiwan-friendly resolutions on supporting Taiwan’s international participation, establishing a Portuguese representative office in Taiwan, and improving Taiwan’s administrative and institutional treatment in Portugal. These initiatives reflect growing cross-party support for the development of more substantive relations with Taiwan.
Looking ahead, there are abundant opportunities for Taiwan and Portugal to work together. I have every confidence that your visit will help accelerate and bolster our nations’ cooperation and exchanges, and I wish you all a pleasant and productive stay in Taiwan. Thank you! Obrigado!