Netherlands Office Taipei (NLOT) Representative Guido Tielman, Deputy Head of Economic Department Jody Chen, Senior Policy Affairs Officer Lisa Laeven, and Dr. Robin Ruizendaal, Representative of the Taiyang Theatre Company, visited Tainan City Mayor Huang Wei-che on May 15. The Mayor was accompanied by Deputy Mayor Yeh Tse-shan, Department of Information and International Relations Director-General Su En-en, Cultural Affairs Bureau Director-General Hsieh Shih-yuan, Cultural Affairs Bureau Senior Specialist Huang Hong-wen, and Department of Information and International Relations Senior Specialist Tian Ling-hu. The two parties discussed the possibilities of working together in the Tainan 400 events which will be held in 2024.
Mayor Huang Wei-che thanked Representative Tielman for visiting from Taipei as well as expressing interest in the following year’s Tainan 400 events. He said that Tainan City would be honored to collaborate with the Netherlands Office Taipei and present high-quality artworks to the residents of Taiwan as well as overseas visitors. He also looks forward to more cultural and other interactions between Taiwan and the Netherlands in the following year.
Representative Guido Tielman responded that this is his fourth interaction with Mayor Huang since he took office. Taiwan and the Netherlands share a close connection and contact and interactions between the two countries started 400 years ago in 1624. In addition to economic interactions, the Dutch architect team MVRDV designed the Xinhua Fruit & Vegetable Market and Tainan Spring, and the Dutch practice Mecanoo also participated in the design of the new Tainan Main Public Library.
Deputy Mayor Yeh Tse-shan thanked NLOT for its support in facilitating discussions regarding business opportunities for Dutch businesses in next year’s Taiwan Lantern Festival. He also thanked Director Robin Ruizendaal for his proposal for the Tainan 400 events. Tainan City Government’s Cultural Affairs Bureau will plan out the exhibitions and performances for the following year and all collaborations and productions will leave a mark in history.
Representative Guido Tielman of the Netherlands Office Taipei (NLOT) assumed office at the end of August 2020. In addition to serving as a strategic economic collaboration platform, NLOT facilitates and supports collaborations between Taiwanese and Dutch organizations and businesses in the areas of business, science, technology, agriculture, culture, and so on.