Remarks by Amb. Jack K.C. Chiang, Director-General of Southwestern Taiwan Office, Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the International Conference on Dengue Prevention and Control
December 7, 2015
Minister Chiang;
Director-General Kuo;
Deputy Minister Chang;
Deputy Director Forden;
Mayor Lai;
Attendees of the conference;
Distinguished guests;
Ladies and gentlemen:
Good morning!
It is my great honor to be here at the opening ceremony of the International Conference on Dengue Prevention and Control. This is the second cooperative project since the launch of the Taiwan-U.S. Global Cooperation and Training Framework (GCTF) in June. On behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China, I would like to extend our warmest welcome to the moderators and the attendees of this conference. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedules to come to Taiwan, also thank you for your commitment to advancing public health for the region and all humankind. Moreover, I’d like to thank our colleagues at Taiwan CDC and our friends at AIT/T for another good collaboration.
Dengue fever outbreaks used to occur mainly in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. However, due to the development of global transportation and acceleration of global warming, dengue virus has been traveling to regions beyond those aforementioned. In order to effectively prevent and control further dengue outbreaks, all countries in affected regions need to share knowledge without discrimination, exchange information on a frequent basis, and establish networks across borders. That is why we are here today, presenting our countries’ situations and responses to the spread of dengue virus, aiming to lower the prevalence of this disease.
Taiwan and the US have been dedicated to building a comprehensive, durable and mutually beneficial partnership on various global issues. GCTF not only serves as a global platform for combating infectious diseases but also functions as a multilateral mechanism for Taiwan to contribute our expertise to the betterment of the region. Moreover, GCTF offers a great opportunity for future cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region on issues we all care about, such as environmental protection, democratization, education, women empowerment, and capacity building. My government will continue to cooperate with the US for the benefits of our region and the international community; meanwhile, your participation and collaboration are tremendously important and highly appreciated. We hope that through this framework, we can make this world better together.
Let me once again welcome all of you to join us on this occasion. We look forward to working closely with you and your government in the future. Lastly, I wish this conference a great success, and all of you a wonderful stay in Taiwan.
Thank you!