Premier Cho receives Canadian trade office executive director Jim Nickel

Premier Cho Jung-tai on Monday received a delegation from the Canadian Trade Office in Taipei led by Executive Director Jim Nickel. The premier thanked Executive Director Nickel for his many contributions to advancing Taiwan-Canada relations since he took office in September 2022. The premier noted that both the governments and the peoples of Taiwan and Canada share a belief in the universal values of freedom and democracy, and continue to cooperate and support each other in maintaining regional peace and security.

The premier highlighted that, in light of the complementary nature of our economic, trade and industrial sectors, Taiwan and Canada signed an avoidance of double taxation agreement in 2016 and a foreign investment promotion and protection agreement last year, and he said that such agreements will undoubtedly provide a solid foundation on which to build bilateral economic and trade relations in the future. In addition, the premier encouraged more young people to partake in Taiwan-Canada youth exchange programs to continue expanding cooperation and deepening friendship between the two nations.

In his remarks, Executive Director Nickel said that to strengthen our democratic resilience, Canada wants to deepen cooperation with Taiwan in areas such as countering disinformation and foreign interference, strengthening cybersecurity, and protecting critical infrastructure. Canada has also stated clearly in its Indo-Pacific Strategy, and in concert with its G7 partners, that Canada opposes the use of coercion or force to unilaterally change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait.

Executive Director Nickel said he is very pleased that Canada has now joined the Global Cooperation and Training Framework (GCTF) as a full member with Taiwan, the U.S., Japan and Australia. Canada sees the GCTF as a valuable platform for exchanging best practices on issues of domestic and transnational importance, and for bringing Taiwan to the world and the world to Taiwan. Furthermore, Taiwan is also a valuable partner for Canada as we transition to a green and digital future and grow our economies together through trade, investment and co-innovation.