Vietnamese woman sworn in as head of immigrant committee in Taiwan

By VnExpress February 23, 2017 | 06:34 am PT

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen waves her hand as she boards the territory's first domestically built Tuo Jiang twin-hull stealth missile corvette at Suao Naval Base in Yilan, Taiwan June 4, 2016. Photo by Reuters/Tyrone Siu/File Photo

Increased participation of immigrants in the territory’s decision-making process would spur their creativity, said the newly appointed chairwoman.

A female lecturer of Vietnamese origin has been chosen to lead a new immigrants' committee formed by the territory’s ruling party, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen attended a ceremony to establish the committee on Wednesday, the Taipei Times reported.

Chairwoman Tran Thi Hoang Phuong, a Vietnamese lecturer at the National Chengchi University in Taipei will lead the 12-member panel. The committee also includes two Taiwanese- Indonesian lecturers, a Thai dancer and Taiwanese immigration officials and experts.

Phuong said increased participation of immigrants in the territory’s decision-making process would spur their creativity.

The new panel was formed to help new immigrants, who make up the fifth-largest ethnic group in the territory, the daily quoted Tsai as saying. She added that the committee will help Taiwan become more multicultural and tolerant, while promoting cultural exchanges.

Taiwan is a promising destination for Vietnamese workers looking for jobs overseas. There are around 164,000 Vietnamese citizens currently working under official contracts in Taiwan, accounting for nearly 30 percent of the country’s overseas workforce.

Taiwanese Minister of Education Pan Wen-Chung said in January that Vietnamese will be among seven other Southeast Asian languages on Taiwan’s curriculum for elementary schools from 2018, VnExpress previously reported.

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