In a meeting with new Lithuanian Trade Representative to Taiwan Karolis Pilipauskas, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) pledged Taipei’s willingness to promote closer bilateral ties, after the Baltic state called for more investment from Taiwan.
Lin today said on social media that he met with Pilipauskas, who took up his post as Lithuania’s trade representative to Taiwan earlier this year, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) headquarters yesterday.
The Lithuanian government recently proposed an initiative to increase Taiwanese investment in the Baltic state, Lin said, adding that MOFA was taking it very seriously.
Photo: Screen grab from Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung’s Facebook page
Lin said he told Pilipauskas that the government looks forward to closer bilateral cooperation, and that Taiwan hoped the two sides would continue to collaborate in semiconductor development, artificial intelligence (AI), green energy and drone technology to jointly enhance democratic supply chain resilience.
Before taking up his post in Taipei in February, Pilipauskas served as the sales and marketing director of the Klaipeda Free Economic Zone in the Lithuanian port city, public records showed.
Relations between Taiwan and Lithuania have warmed over the past few years after the two sides established reciprocal representative offices in Vilnius in 2021 and in Taipei in 2022.
Last week, Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of MOFA’s Department of European Affairs, said that MOFA had in March received a proposal calling for increased Taiwanese investment in Lithuania and that it was under review.
The projects listed under the proposal were built on existing bilateral cooperation in fields such as lasers, medical AI and fintech.
The Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs had prepared an action plan outlining priority economic sectors and potential projects aimed at enhancing cooperation with Taiwan, Lithuanian National Radio and Television reported on April 1.
Taiwan has invested more than 16.8 million euros (US$19.77 million) in Lithuania since 2021, MOFA said.