The Head of European Economic and Trade Office (EETO), Mr. Filip Grzegorzewski, today (the 5th) led his delegation to visit the Mayor of Taichung, Lu Shiow-Yen, to invite the Taichung City Government to jointly organize the "Investment in the European Union-Taichung Forum" on September 30th and the " EUTW Forum on Environment and Science" in the middle of October and both sides also exchanged opinions toward issues such as offshore wind power, green energy and cultures. Mayor Lu said she welcomes relevant EU forum events held in Taichung and the Taichung City Government will give its full support. She expected that in the future, there will be more cooperation with the EU for deepening bilateral relations.
Mayor Lu said Taichung has been closely working with the EU; for example, each year, the Taichung Film Festival is the cooperation between a private organization and the EU and this year marks the 10th Anniversary of the Festival that introduces European culture to the Taiwanese. The Taichung City Government organized the Jazz Festival for many years by inviting European bands to perform. Additionally, Taiwan encourages wind power generation and the wind on the coastal areas in Central Taiwan has been stable and many European countries are attracted to invest in wind power generation in Taichung. The MRT system is Taichung's important infrastructure and the first MRT line was officially run in Taichung. Taichung can further cooperate with the EU where MRT development has been very advanced.
Mayor Lu also said that the EU has been farsighted about green energy and in 2019, she led her delegation to visit the UK that has decided to go without coal by 2025. Many European countries are also headed in this direction and Taichung can learn from them. In the future, she expected that there will be more cooperation and exchanges. She suggested that the EU can focus more on the marketing of EU animal and meat products. Since the EU bans the use of ractopamine, a great concern of meat safety in Taiwan, the EU's strictly controlled meat processing measures are promising in Taiwanese market.
According to the Head of EETO, Mr. Filip Grzegorzewski, in the past, the EU focused its investment and exchanges in Taipei and now it hopes to promote more investment and cooperation initiatives in Taichung. The EETO planned to organize the "Investment in the European Union-Taichung Forum" on September 30th and the "EUTW Forum on Environment and Science " in the middle of October and was looking for enhanced cooperation and exchanges with the Taichung City Government. He thanked Mayor Lu's concern about food safety issues such as the use of ractopamine. Food safety is an important issue and the EETO will make its best effort to promote meat safety in Taiwan.
Accompanied by Deputy Mayor, Bruce Linghu and heads of other departments, Mayor Lu met Head of EETO, Mr. Filip Grzegorzewski, and his delegation. Because Europe Day is celebrated on May 9th, Mayor Lu prepared Bubble Tea, originating from Taichung, to celebrate the birthday of the EU. Mayor Lu also presented Taichung's famous lacquerware and pastries to the Head of EETO, Mr. Filip Grzegorzewski and his wife while they gave chocolate made jointly by Taiwan and Europe to end this joyful meeting.