Andy Yih-Ping Liu, the Representative and Chief of Taiwan Mission in Nigeria has confessed that his country admires Nigeria’s rich natural and human resources.
Speaking with journalists in Abuja, Liu said Nigeria’s natural wealth and freedom from disasters like earthquakes, tornadoes and the likes is of great advantage to Africa’s most populace nation.
He stated that as a country, Taiwan only relies on human capital and brainpower to scale through some of the hurdles and challenges it faces as a nation.
He said, “We don’t have any mineral resources in Taiwan. Since 1960, our government has invested heavily in industries such as shipbuilding, oil refineries, and petrochemicals while also strengthening infrastructure, including railways, highways, and airports.”
He also stated that Taiwan has over time focused on maximizing importation of raw materials for meeting demands of industrial production.
This, Liu said has created value and given Taiwan an unprecedented opportunity to generate revenue through exports.
“Our economic growth is driven by hard work. We do not have natural resources; we must purchase them with international funding, convert them into products, and sell them to repay our loans.
“This self-reliant development model has made Taiwan a major economic force. By the late 1980s, Taiwan was recognized as one of Asia’s Four Tigers, alongside Hong Kong, Singapore, and South Korea,” Liu noted.
He also commended Nigeria for being a model to other nations, especially those in the African continent.
He said, “Nigeria has the best democracy in Africa, a model for other nations on the continent. Taiwan shares the same democratic values. We do not engage in illegal mining, and we apologize for the actions of certain Chinese nationals in Nigeria.”
