Taipei City Mayor Ko Wen-je attended the opening ceremony of the 2019 Pencak Silat National Championship and Charity Performance in the morning of June 9.
According to Ko, he is very pleased to see the Taiwan Pencak Silat National Championship held in Taipei City. As the largest ASEAN nation, Indonesia is a very important country in Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy. There are currently over 300,000 Indonesian migrant workers, foreign spouses, and students in Taiwan, enriching Taiwan’s cultural diversity and becoming an integral part of our lives.
The mayor also expressed his gratitude to the Indonesian friends for taking care of over 30,000 senior citizens in Taipei, thus it is important to let them feel welcome and appreciate Taipei City’s hospitality so that they can better look after our senior citizens.
He remarked that Taipei is an international metropolis, and the objective of Taipei City Government is to create a livable, sustainable environment for people from around the world. Consequently, he held a forum with several friends from Indonesia earlier in May and asked them what improvements can be implemented by Taipei City Government, hoping to provide them with a more comfortable living environment in Taipei City. As a matter of fact, in addition to the Taiwan Pencak Silat National Championship, the Muslim Festival is also held at Daan Park on the same day.
Ko pointed out that Indonesia is a great Muslim nation, as well as boasting the largest Muslim population in the world. Therefore, Taipei City hopes to increase interaction with not only Indonesia, but the entire Muslim world via cultural, sports, tourism, economic, and trade exchanges, because he believes it will also enrich Taipei City’s cultural diversity. Lastly, he wished all the event participants health, prosperity, and happiness.