Taichung will be hosting the 2018 World Flora Expo, and preparations are currently underway. Uvs Province in Mongolia will be participating in the expo under the name of Representative Office of Uvs Province in Taiwan. Coinciding with Mayor Chia-lung Lin’s visit to Mongolia, Uvs Province Governor D. Batsaikhan flew to Ulaanbaatar on the 20th to meet with Mayor Lin and discuss flora expo related issues. He also extended his invitation for form a sister city relationship with Taichung City. Mayor Lin accepted the invitation on-site and suggested that Taichung City and Uvs Province becoming sister cities is the perfect example of an inland nation and island nation complementing each other. Besides facilitating bilateral developments, it is also an important milestone in fostering Taiwan-Mongolia relations.

Accompanied by Sports Bureau Director-general Ching-tang Wang and Representative of Taipei Trade and Economic Representative Office in Ulaanbaatar Kuo-jung Huang, Mayor Lin met with Uvs Province Governor D. Batsaikhan on the 20th, where both parties enjoyed each other’s company. In addition to thanking Uvs Province Governor for supporting the 2018 Taichung World Flora Expo, Mayor Lin also took the opportunity to invite him to attend the 2018 Taichung World Flora Expo opening ceremony and share each other’s experiences in city administration.

According to Mayor Lin, Taichung city will be hosting the World Flora Expo in 2018, and the city government will offer all the necessary assistance for Uvs Province’s exhibition in order to let more Taiwanese people see the local features of Uvs Province. He also invited Governor D. Batsaikhan to visit Taichung and attend 2018 Taichung World Flora Expo.

Mayor Lin mentioned that thanks to the facilitation from the Governor of Uvs Province, Taichung City Government is glad to become a sister city of Uvs Province. Since Taiwan and Mongolia are highly complementary in many regards, including cultural interaction, therefore it is hoped that in bilateral exchanges in economy, trade, agriculture and culture will be reinforced in the future. During the meeting, both parties also discussed numerous collaborative prospects, and it is hoped that with assistance from Representative of Taipei Trade and Economic Representative Office in Ulaanbaatar, diverse bilateral developments will also be facilitated.

Uvs Province Governor D. Batsaikhan expressed his joy at meeting with Mayor Lin, where both parties were able to exchange abundant opinions in potential future cooperation. With Taichung City’s sophisticated agricultural development and precision machinery, it is hoped to facilitate bilateral collaborations by becoming sister cities.

Representative Huang pointed out that Uvs Province Governor D. Batsaikhan is the most willing Mongolian province to interact and maintain a close tie with Taiwan. As soon as the Governor learnt of Taichung City hosting the 2018 World Flora Expo, he immediately expressed high degree of willingness to participate in the event. He is a horse trainer by trade and has herds of horse in Uvs Province, where unique landscapes such as Gobi, alpines and prairies form essential attractions for tourists.

The city government stated that as the host city of 2018 World Flora Expo, Taichung has adopted the theme of GNP (Green, Nature and People), endowing GNP with brand new meaning and resonating with the main theme of sustainable city. During the process of preparing for the flora expo, the city government repositioned the venue and divided it into 3 regions in order to protect the habitat of leopard cats and Houli Horse Ranch as a cultural heritage. As a result, Taichung’s endeavors received acknowledgment from the International Association of Horticultural Producers (AIPH), which upgraded the “Taichung International Flora Exposition” to “Taichung World Flora Exposition”. It is hoped that when the Governor of Uvs Province visits Taichung as one of the World Flora Expo participants, he will also be able to appreciate the unique local culture of the region.

Situated immediately adjacent to Russia, Uvs Province of Mongolia is rich in mineral resources. After signing the MOU on “Cooperation in the Renewable Energy and Energy Management Industries” between Mongolia and Taiwan, local solar/wind power industries and the mining industry are in desperate need of importing various heavy equipment, therefore Taichung’s machine tools and renewable energy industries will be able to collaborate with local firms in Mongolia to develop the market and in turn expand to business opportunities in Russia or other central Asian countries. The aim is to strengthen bilateral ties through these exchanges.