President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) received a delegation from the International Youth Ambassadors Exchange Program and Young Agricultural Ambassadors New Southbound Policy Exchange Program to gain insight on their diplomatic achievements this Monday. This year the Foreign Ministry sent 50 international youth ambassadors to visit Belize and Guatemala, two of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies in Central America, and agricultural youth ambassadors to Thailand and Malaysia as part of continued efforts to strengthen diplomatic exchanges.
Lai mentioned that 1,800 students have participated in exchanges since the International Youth Ambassador Exchange Program’s inception in 2009, and 138 youth ambassadors have been involved in in-depth exchanges with Southeastern Asian countries since the launch of Young Agricultural Ambassadors in 2017. Lai thanked the ambassadors for their efforts in enthusiastically extending Taiwan’s soft power across the world, stating that Taiwan is proud of them.
International youth ambassador Daisy Tu (凃欣儀) took to the stage to share her experiences, stating that the Young Agricultural Ambassadors program’s existence is proof that a high degree of education is not an overqualification in the field of agriculture, but rather aids career diversification. She said she believes the program will be a pioneer program that acts as a bridge connecting Taiwan to the rest of the world.
When Lai was presented with agricultural products produced by youth ambassadors including sparkling fruit drinks, edible roses, brown sugar, and milkfish, he promoted Tainan’s milkfish by sharing the wide variety of products they can be a part of. Beyond being an edible and tasty fish, the scales of the milkfish can be processed into facial masks and clothing, Lai said.
In addition to recognizing the Foreign Ministry and Agricultural Ministry’s efforts, Lai said the government will promote the $10 Billion Dollar Youth Overseas Dream Fund to encourage young people from all fields to exchange, learn, and develop skills globally to contribute to realizing their dreams in hopes of also enhancing Taiwan’s competitiveness.