TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Ministry of Foreign Affairs hosted a delegation of lawmakers from the French National Assembly this week in Taipei. 

Deputy Foreign Minister Francois Wu (吳志中) joined the French visitors at a banquet to discuss cooperation between Taiwan and France. The French delegation, led by lawmaker Guillaume Kasbarian, is in Taiwan to discuss strengthening the international supply chain for critical high-tech industries, according to a press release. 

Wu expressed his happiness over news that the Taiwan tech company Foxconn will be making a major investment in France to develop a semiconductor packaging and testing plant with Thales and Radiall as French partners. The foreign ministry said this will help ensure a more resilient supply chain between democratic partners for the production of critical emerging technologies.  

The foreign ministry and the French delegation also celebrated the Memorandum of Understanding on intellectual property theft, which was signed this week between Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs and France’s Industrial Property Agency. The agreement is expected to increase protections for French and Taiwanese companies against trade secret theft and IP infringement by making cases easier to prosecute, per the press release.

The French delegation said it appreciated Taiwan’s hospitality and reaffirmed that the two countries share democratic values and a commitment to ensuring stability in the Indo-Pacific. Kasbarian pledged that after returning to France, lawmakers will continue working to bolster cooperation in key areas of trade, technology, and defense.