Taoyuan City Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan and Brno City Mayor Markéta Vaňková of the Czech Republic exchanged their opinions on the global pandemic and education in an online meeting. The two mayors also shared their cities’ pandemic control and economic recovery programs as well as ideas on future collaborations. At the end of the meeting, Mayor Cheng wrote down “Taiwan Can Help 桃園挺你 (meaning ‘Taoyuan helps’ in English)” on the message board to Mayor Vaňková, stating that Taiwan can contribute to the world and that Taoyuan lends its support to all cities with friendly ties with Taoyuan. Mayor Vaňková also wrote in Czech, “Spolu to zvládneme (meaning ‘we can do this together’ in English).” The two cities hope to have more exchanges with each other and become cities with formal friendly ties going forward.
The series of “COVID-19 Epidemic Prevention—Talks Between Global City Leaders” held by Taoyuan City Government aims to invite global city leaders to share experiences in pandemic control and economic recovery and exchange ideas on future collaborations. With the assistance from Minister Joseph Wu of Foreign Affairs and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Prague, Taoyuan chose to have the very first online talk in the series with Brno City. Brno is the second largest city in Czech Republic and just recently visited Taiwan. The city looks forward to more collaborations with Taoyuan in the fields of high tech, innovation, and R&D as well as more academic and youth exchanges with universities in Taoyuan.
Mayor Cheng took the opportunity to introduce Taoyuan to Mayor Vaňková of Brno. “As home to Taiwan’s international airport, Taoyuan is the gateway city of the country. The citizens’ average age of 39 makes it the youngest city among the six major municipalities in Taiwan.” said Mayor Cheng.
“The 32 industrial parks in Taoyuan have generated an industrial value of NT$3 trillion and created a complete ecosystem of industries, manufacturing industries, aviation industries, logistics industries, and IoT production chain in Taoyuan,” said Mayor Cheng. “With its recent focus on airport economics, Taoyuan's six prominent industries of aviation and maintenance, warehousing and logistics, green energy, smart vehicles, biomedicine, and cloud technologies have a lot to offer to the city of Brno for exchanges in innovative technologies and various start-up industries.”
“Brno is a major transportation hub that connects with Europe and other parts of the world. Therefore, countries around the world view the city as an area with great potential for development and investment. Many multinational companies such as the leading software and hardware integration company Y Soft and IBM have chosen to set up their R&D center and production base in Brno City,” said Mayor Vaňková. “The city’s major industries include information technologies and electron microscopes. 30% of the world's electron microscopes are manufactured in Brno.”
“Taiwan and the Czech Republic both share the value of freedom, democracy, and human rights. Not only is Brno home to vibrant high-tech industries, but the city’s rich and abundant history and culture also gave birth to the famous writer Milan Kundera and the father of modern genetics, Gregor Mendel,” said Mayor Cheng. “In addition, Brno was selected by ŠKODA as the pilot city for its electric shared scooters, BeRider, while Taoyuan was the first city in Taiwan to launch a similar project of GoShare. With a total of more than 100,000 rides in Taiwan, GoShare has helped reduce CO2 emission by 300,000 kilograms. The two cities can have more exchanges in the area of shared mobility vehicles.”
Mayor Cheng also talked about Taiwan’s amazing achievement in pandemic control. “The three levels of defense against the pandemic adopted at the country’s border, hospitals, and communities. Under the strict border control, all travelers arriving at the border, regardless of their nationality, are subject to 14 days in home quarantine, 7 days of self-health management, and the use of epidemic prevention taxis and quarantine hotels to avoid contact with the public,” said Mayor Cheng. “At the peak of the pandemic, entry and exit of hospitals were strictly regulated, and masks must be worn at public transportation systems, large outdoor events, and indoor gatherings.”
At the onset of the epidemic outbreak, Taoyuan City Government has adopted preemptive measures across different fields and worked closely with the central government. For example, the city government worked with local manufacturers of masks and PPEs to form a “national team” against the pandemic. After the anti-epidemic supplies were secured for the domestic demand, the city began to donate some of the extra supplies to its allied cities to fight against the pandemic.
“The success in Taiwan’s pandemic control could be attributed not only to the country’s solid healthcare system and proper real-time response, but also to its citizens’ awareness. The pandemic could not have been properly controlled without the collective efforts of all citizens.” said Mayor Cheng.
“On Taiwan’s current economic relief policies, enterprises can apply for emergency loans and wage subsidy programs offered by local governments. Following the central government’s issuance of the Triple Stimulus Vouchers to all citizens, Taoyuan city has provided additional payouts to those who use the vouchers at tourist night markets and tourism factories in Taoyuan,” said Mayor Cheng. “According to the statistics, the global pandemic has not taken a serious toll on Taiwan’s economic growth. Instead, Taiwan’s export of electronic products has increased amidst the global pandemic. The economy as a whole hasn’t been affected too much after all.”
“The Czech Republic has banned drinking in public spaces, shut down restaurants, limited the number of people at a gathering to 100, and ordered a social distance of 2 meters as the national effort to curb the spread of the pandemic. In addition to indoor spaces and crowded areas, masks must also be worn at open spaces of towns and villages.” said Mayor Vaňková.
The Brno Mayor also shared the post-pandemic economic recovery policies in the Czech Republic. “The central government provides subsidies to companies in culture or tourism industries and those unable to work because of the pandemic. At the same time, bank loans are guaranteed for enterprises, late rent payments are given, and hotel accommodations are subsidized,” said Mayor Vaňková. “The Brno City also implemented measures to mitigate and control COVID-19 and established consultation hotlines and websites. Land use fees for open spaces of outdoor garden restaurants are exempted in the city, while arts and cultural activities are subsidized by the city government too.”
“Regarding potential future exchanges of talents in the areas of education and science, having sister universities between Taiwan and Czech Republic can be of great help to foster future talents. I recommend both Masaryk University and Mendel University as great candidates for future exchanges with Taoyuan.” said Mayor Vaňková.
Mayor Cheng promised to recommend the best candidates out of the 16 universities in Taoyuan City to initiate the exchange with universities in Brno City. Mayor Cheng found Mayor Vaňková to be a leader with vision during their talk; therefore, is very optimistic that the two cities will strike up a long-lasting friendship moving forward.
Director-general Yen Tzu-chieh of the Secretariat would like to extend his heartfelt thanks to Minister Joseph Wu of Foreign Affairs, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Czech, and Mr. Ivo Bednář, the head of the Foreign Relations Department of Brno City, for their invaluable assistance.