Taipei, April 21 (CNA) Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) will lead a delegation to Eswatini King Mswati III’s 57th birthday celebration as President Lai Ching-te’s (賴清德) special envoy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Monday.
Lin will lead a delegation of government officials and a group of business representatives to the only diplomatic ally of the Republic of China (Taiwan) in Africa from Tuesday to Saturday, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
The delegation has been invited to attend festivities and the main celebration scheduled on Friday, the ministry said.
The foreign minister will present a letter from Lai and cows as gifts to the king and Queen Mother Ntombi Tfwala, the ministry said.
Lin will also hold meetings with Eswatini Prime Minister Russell Dlamini and the kingdom’s foreign minister Pholile Shakantu on bilateral ties and projects, according to the statement.
The International Cooperation and Development Fund chaired by Lin runs the Taiwan Technical Mission in the Kingdom of Eswatini in agricultural, finance and telecommunication projects.
The business representatives will explore opportunities in the African kingdom and meet with Taiwanese business people based there during the visit, the ministry said.
In March, Eswatini Minister of Home Affairs Princess Lindiwe announced that the main celebration of King Mswati III’s 57th birthday would take place on April 25 in the Shiselweni Region of the landlocked kingdom in Southern Africa.
The king was crowned Mswati III on April 25, 1986 after he turned 18 and succeeded King Sobhuza II, who died in August 1982.
On his birthday, April 19, this year, King Mswati III hosted an Easter Prayer Service at the Ngabezweni Royal Residence.
Taiwan and Eswatini established formal diplomatic ties when it became independent on Sept. 6, 1968.
