TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Hatim Hamed Al-Taie, an Omani parliamentarian, visited Taiwan this week to network and look for opportunities to build partnerships between Taiwan and Oman.
On Friday (April 14), Al-Taie spoke with Taiwan News about his impression of Taiwan. He expressed his admiration, calling it a very “efficient, impressive, and disciplined” country, and said there is lots of room for Oman and Taiwan to cooperate in the fields of education, agriculture, green technology, and cybersecurity.
This was Al-Taie’s second visit to Taiwan, but this trip provided his first opportunity to travel outside of Taipei. Earlier this week, Al-Taie visited Kaohsiung to learn about developments in green energy, electric vehicles, and other related industries.
He also visited Pingtung, where he learned about Taiwan's fishing and agricultural industries in Taiwan. After touring the Pingtung Agricultural Biotechnology Park, Al-Taie expressed his admiration for Taiwan's farmers and fishermen, and the economic successes that they have achieved thanks to government and public partnerships.
In Hsinchu, Al-Taie toured Hsinchu Science Park and learned about Taiwan’s semiconductor manufacturing industry, which he described as an amazing accomplishment. On the subject of technology, Al-Taie said the amount of digital infrastructure and connectivity in Taiwan is very impressive.
On his previous visit to Taiwan, the Omani parliamentarian arranged educational exchanges with Taiwan’s National Dong Hwa University. In the past, lecturers from Dong Hwa visited Muscat for lectures and workshops on solar energy and hydrogen power. On this visit, Al-Taie arranged for student exchange programs between Dong Hwa and Sultan Qaboos University, which are set to begin in August of this year.
While in Taipei, the Omani parliamentarian met with officials at the International Cooperation and Development Fund to identify opportunities where Taiwan and Oman might learn from each other moving forward.
On Friday (April 14), Al-Taie visited the office of I-Mei Foods in Taipei. After learning about the scope of I-Mei’s business operations and products, he said he was impressed by the wide range of products offered by the company.
While in Taipei on Friday, Al-Taie also met with representatives from some cybersecurity firms partnering with I-Mei, including Chelpis and Shield eXtreme, to consider the possibility of joint-venture projects between the firms and Oman-based companies. Chelpis CEO Ming Chih (池明洋) and Al-Taie discussed a wide range of applications for cybersecurity products in the age of artificial intelligence and quantum computing.
Al-Taie said that he hopes that a market study can be conducted for Oman and the Middle East to understand how different cybersecurity tools might benefit his country and the region.
“Taiwan is a very advanced and organized country, and a beautiful country,” Al-Taie told Taiwan News. “There is so much to see, and people are very helpful and friendly. Things are so organized and people are disciplined, which, for a visitor, are all very good elements for a country to have.”
While speaking with Taiwan News, Al-Taie said, “Oman is a very peaceful country that emphasizes neutrality and diplomacy.”
Regardless of tensions and political disagreements, Oman hopes to build bridges with all countries to promote peace throughout the world. “Oman aims to be a mediator” to reduce conflict, Al-Taie said, mentioning the country’s recent successes in brokering peace deals between Iran and Saudi Arabia, and in mediating the conflict in Yemen.
“Taiwan is a very efficient country that has made some amazing accomplishments in terms of its economic development over the past 40 years,” Al-Taie said. “I believe there are many opportunities for Taiwan and Oman to work together in the future.”
