June 18, 2018
No. 148
Frédéric Barbier, a Member of the French National Assembly and Chairman of its Taiwan-France Friendship Group, is leading a three-member delegation to Taiwan from June 18 to 21 at the invitation of the Republic of China (Taiwan) government. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomes Mr. Barbier and his delegation to Taiwan.
The purpose of the visit is to help delegation members gain a deeper understanding of Taiwan’s recent developments, especially in terms of exploring policies and achievements in the digital economy, ICT, AI, and big data.
While in Taiwan, the delegates will meet with Legislative Yuan President Su Jia-chyuan, and call at the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Science and Technology, the Taichung City government, Industrial Technology Research Institute, Institute for Information Industry, and National Applied Research Laboratories. They will also attend a reception hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and visit such sites of cultural and economic interest as the National Palace Museum and Taipei 101.
Mr. Barbier previously visited Taiwan in 2016, while the other two delegates, also Members of the Taiwan-France Friendship Group, are visiting Taiwan for the first time. Mr. Christophe Bouillon is Vice Chairman of the National Assembly’s e-sports research unit; Mr. Claude de Ganay is Vice Chairman of the National Assembly’s research unit for data, knowledge, and AI in the digital economy, and was formerly responsible for the Assembly’s reports on AI.
France is one of Taiwan’s most important European and global partners in terms of scientific research. In recent years the two countries have actively promoted dialogue and exchange in emerging areas of science and technology, as well as new areas of innovation. Earlier in June, French Tech Taiwan launched its operations of the Taiwan Tech Arena located at Taipei Arena, laying a solid foundation for cooperation and related exchange. (E)