Taipei, October 12, 2020 – The President of the Republic of China (Taiwan) Tsai Ing-wen received on Monday Ambassador Mohamed Omar Hagi Mohamoud, Somaliland envoy to Taiwan at the Presidential Office in Taipei, the capital city of Taiwan.
Speaking at the meeting, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said Taiwan and the Republic of Somaliland will benefit from their bilateral cooperation in ways that will strengthen and diversify their development, given their strategic geographical locations.
The appointment of Somaliland’s first representative to Taiwan Ambassador Mohamed Omar Hagi Mohamoud and the reciprocal opening of representative offices on both sides this year marked “a new era of bilateral relations,” Tsai said.
Tsai said she is confident that through close cooperation, Taiwan and Somaliland can “better leverage each other’s strengths and diversify our development.”
Somaliland is strategically located “in the horn of Africa,” while Taiwan occupies “a geographically important and strategic position” in the Indo Pacific region, she said.
Tsai said Somaliland is a “paradigm of democracy in Africa,” and like Taiwan, it has been striving to deepen its democracy.
“Through joint efforts, we can become close partners and staunchly support each other in the international arena,” she said.
Delighted to welcome #Somaliland’s first Representative to #Taiwan, @AmbMohamedHagi. We look forward to strengthening bilateral cooperation between our two nations based on shared democratic values, & providing mutual support in the int'l community. pic.twitter.com/sUcyBsi97m
— 蔡英文 Tsai Ing-wen (@iingwen) October 12, 2020
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In turn, Ambassador Mohamoud said his country and Taiwan share common democratic values and a “historic and strategic affinity,” as they have managed “to overcome the negative effects of their unfortunate international isolation.”
Taiwan investors are welcome to look at the business potential in Somaliland sectors such as telecommunications, finance, digital economy, fishing, agriculture, construction, alternative energy, mining and the service industry, Mohamoud said.
He said his country has been “a beacon of democracy” over the last 30 years in Africa and continues to contribute to the international community in areas such as economic security and counter-piracy.
My pleasure to meet H.E. Madam President @iingwen. The President is accompanied with the Secretary-General to the President, the Foreign Minister & Chief of Protocol & the Director-General of 3rd Bureau, Office of President & other high officials. It was a very fruitful meeting. pic.twitter.com/yE5Nrg5eFK
— Amb. Mohamed Hagi (@AmbMohamedHagi) October 12, 2020
Somaliland also hosts refugees from Somalia, Yemen, Syria, and other countries, sharing “the burden of managing the impact of world conflict,” and works closely with global partners to stem the illicit flow of arms and trafficking of people, Mohamoud said.
Somaliland declared independence in 1991 after a civil war in Somalia. It has offices in about a dozen countries, according to its foreign ministry website, but is not recognized by any country as a sovereign nation.
In February, Taiwan and Somaliland signed an agreement to establish reciprocal representative offices. Taipei opened its office in Somaliland on Aug. 17, while Somaliland opened its office in Taipei on Sept. 9.
