Somaliland’s foreign minister is leading a high-level delegation to visit Taiwan from late Tuesday to Saturday. The delegation will meet with President Tsai Ing-wen. That was the word from Taiwan’s foreign ministry on Tuesday.
Somaliland is a de facto independent state with nearly 6 million residents in the Horn of Africa. It declared independence from Somalia and has been self-governed since 1991 but it does not have formal diplomatic relations with any nation.
The visiting delegation will be led by Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Essa Kayd Mohamoud. Others in the delegation include Minister of Finance Saad Ali Shire; Omar Abdilahi Ali, minister of health development; and Saeed Mohamed Sulub, minister of livestock and fishery development.
The delegation will also meet with Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, Economic Affairs Minister Wang Mei-hua, and other top government officials and industry leaders.
The visit marks Minister Mohamoud's first visit to Taiwan after assuming the role of foreign minister of Somaliland in September 2021.
Somaliland's foreign ministry said in a post that the delegation is visiting Taiwan in response to an invitation from Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Relations between Taiwan and Somaliland have been growing closer in recent years. Taipei opened its office in Somaliland in August 2020, while Somaliland opened its office in Taipei in September 2020.