Somaliland delegation is to meet President Tsai

A delegation from Somaliland led by its minister of foreign affairs was to arrive in Taiwan after press time last night and depart on Saturday, and a meeting with President Tsai Ing-wen is planned, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday.

Led by Somaliland Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Essa Kayd Mohamoud, members of the delegation also include Somaliland Minister of Finance Saad Ali Shire, Somaliland Minister of Health Omar Abdilahi Ali, and Somaliland Minister of Livestock and Fisheries Saeed Mohamed Sulub, MOFA said in a statement.

The delegation is to meet with Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu, Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua and other senior government officials, as well as representatives from CPC Corp, Taiwan to exchange views on deepening bilateral cooperation, it said.

The visit marks Mohamoud’s first trip to Taiwan after assuming the African state’s top diplomatic post in September last year, the statement said.

The Somaliland Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a separate statement that the delegation is to visit Taiwan in response to an invitation from MOFA.

Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991 after years of conflict.

It has offices in about a dozen countries, according to its foreign ministry’s Web site, but does not have formal diplomatic relations with any nation.

In February 2020, Taiwan and Somaliland signed an agreement to establish reciprocal representative offices.

Taipei opened its office in Somaliland on Aug. 17 that year, while Somaliland opened its office in Taipei the following month.

Taiwan donated 150,000 doses of the Medigen COVID-19 vaccine to Somaliland, with the batch arriving there last month.