In May, Czech lawmakers voted 51-1 to support Taiwan''s participation in international organizations for the second year in a row. The move reflected the warming ties between the Czech Republic and Taiwan. FTV reporter Stephany Yang sat down with Taiwan''s envoy to the Czech Republic Ke Liang-ruey to find out more about the bilateral relationship and its future.

He shows off the newly renovated lobby of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Prague. This is Taiwan''s envoy to the Czech Republic, Ke Liang-ruey. He took office in January 2020. Since then, he''s been working to strengthen the relationship between Taiwan and the Czech Republic.

Ke Liang-ruey
Taiwan''s envoy to the Czech Republic
The representative office in the Czech Republic works mainly with the executive branch of the Czech government, the Senate, and the House of Representatives, as well as other professionals. Especially in the fields of science and technology and economics and trade. These are the two major cooperation areas between us and the Czech Republic. In recent years, the people of our two countries have gained a better understanding of each other in the fields of literature and art, culture, and creation. Because of this, we’re also hoping to develop and deepen our long-term cooperation with the Czech Republic.

Recently, Ke met with Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky and Chairman of the Czech Republic-Taiwan Parliamentary Platform Marek Benda. Lipavsky said that the Czech Republic shares similar values with Taiwan and looks forward to cooperating with Taiwan. I asked Ke to identify the industries in which the two sides will deepen their cooperation.

Ke Liang-ruey
Taiwan''s envoy to the Czech Republic
Complementary industries. The Czech Republic is very advanced in the field of machinery and optics, and in the field of automobiles. Taiwan is strong not only in the electronics industry, but also in semiconductors and artificial intelligence. We also have a lot of cooperation in these areas. Bilateral cooperation can promote the development of Industry 4.0.

Ke says that despite the pandemic, the Taiwan-Czech trade relationship has grown.

Ke Liang-ruey
Taiwan''s envoy to the Czech Republic
The bilateral trade relationship between Taiwan and the Czech Republic has been growing in recent years. In 2020, for example, bilateral trade reached US$890 million. In 2021, it grew to US$950 million, marking an increase of more than 7%. Achieving such growth in a pandemic wasn’t easy. For the first three months of the year, trade is already at US$236 million, marking a growth rate of more than 16%.

Ke says that for the first three months of this year, trade is already at US$236 million, marking a growth rate of more than 16%. He looks forward to deepening the relationship between Taiwan and the Czech Republic.