The 2017 Pacific Islands Leadership Program with Taiwan concluded Oct. 25 in Taipei City, spotlighting the nation’s role in fostering development across the region.
Under the initiative jointly organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Institute of Diplomacy and International Affairs and Hawaii-based East-West Center, 26 attendees from 10 Pacific island countries—including Republic of China (Taiwan) diplomatic allies Kiribati, Nauru, Palau and Solomon Islands—took part in seminars, tours and workshops during their five-week stay in the country. These activities followed six weeks of leadership courses at the center in Honolulu.
At the closing ceremony, MOFA and EWC signed a memorandum of understanding extending the initiative until 2022, with the two sides seeking to empower a further 102 young leaders over the next five years.
According to Deputy MOFA Minister Paul Wen-liang Chang, PILP has grown into one of the most prominent leadership training programs in the region. Noting the common challenges faced by Taiwan and Pacific island nations, he said the country is committed to further strengthening collaboration and sharing best practices in areas such as sustainable development.
Echoing Chang’s remarks, EWC President Richard Vuylsteke said PILP has enabled young Pacific island leaders to develop personal and institutional networks that facilitate the sharing of concerns, insights and perspectives across the region and with the wider international community. He expressed confidence that the program will continue to go from strength to strength over the next five years.
Participant Patrick Balou Wilson, chief parliamentary research officer in the Solomon Islands, said the initiative has provided him with the capacity and motivation to craft solutions to his country’s development needs. It has also helped deepen ties and promote cultural understanding between Taiwan and his nation, he added.
PILP was proposed by Kurt Campbell, then assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, in November 2011 and negotiated by Rajiv Shah, then administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, during a visit to Taiwan in December the same year. The program comprises courses spanning such topics as education, green energy, health care, industrial development and international cooperation