TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Lithuania will open its office in Taiwan by the end of the  year and will send a vice minister to attend the ceremony, reports said Saturday (Aug. 7).

Exchanges between the two countries have been warming up, with Taiwanese donors sending aid to the Baltic country and Lithuania donating 20,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses last month.

Vice Foreign Minister Mantas Adomenas told CNA that the office would start operations before 2022 and resort under Lithuania’s Ministry of Economy and Innovation. Either that department’s vice minister or Adomenas himself might travel to Taiwan to attend the opening ceremony, he said.

A discussion about the name for the office had still not been concluded, with “Lithuanian Representative Office” and “Lithuanian Trade Representative Office” the two main options. Earlier, Taiwan announced that its office would bear the title of “Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania,” a first for an office of the island in a European country.

As the two countries do not maintain official diplomatic relations, the Lithuanian parliament first has to amend legislation to allow for the new structure when it resumes work after the summer break, Adomenas said. The vice minister himself told CNA he had visited Taiwan seven or eight times already and was looking forward to see bilateral ties improve.