Staff writer, with CNA
The government on Monday officially opened a new representative office in Milan, giving it a second office in Italy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
The office’s first head, former deputy representative to Italy Riccardo Lin (林讚南), presided over a plaque unveiling ceremony to mark the launch, the ministry said in a news release.
The ceremony was also attended by Italian Senate Vice President Gian Marco Centinaio and Italian Chamber of Deputies Foreign Affairs Committee Vice President Paolo Formentini, it said.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) addressed the ceremony attendees in a prerecorded video, it said.
Taiwan’s other representative office in Italy is in Rome.
The Milan office would help Taiwan facilitate closer trade and economic links with northern Italy, the ministry said.
Taiwan already had a presence in Milan, Italy’s financial and business hub, prior to the opening of the office through the Taiwan Trade Center operated by the Taiwan External Trade Development Council, which helps Taiwanese businesses enter foreign markets, while EVA Airways launched new passenger services between Taipei and Milan in October last year.
The new representative office is to offer consular and emergency services to Taiwanese living and working in eight administrative regions in northern Italy: Aosta Valley, Piedmont, Liguria, Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna, Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Trentino-Alto Adige, the ministry said.
The “Ufficio di Rappresentanza di Taipei in Italia-Ufficio di Milano” or the Taipei Representative Office in Italy-Milan Office, is at Via Fabio Filzi, 25/A/P.12, 20124 in Milan.
Its phone number and e-mail address are 39-3343-838-604 and mil@mofa.gov.tw. Taiwanese who need emergency services can call the office’s 24/7 hotline at 39-3342-222-171.
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