• 2025-07-02

In order to deepen friendship between Taiwan and Eswatini, further promoting cultural exchange between the two nations, Taiwan’s National Central Library (NCL below) donated a Taiwan Corner to the Eswatini National Library Service on July 1^st, 2025, with Minister of Economic Planning and Development Thambo Gina receiving the donation on behalf of Eswatini.

NCL Director-General Han-ching Wang expressed that in the many years of diplomatic partnership between Taiwan and Eswatini, significant achievements have been made in collaborations on agriculture, trade, education, medicine, and other fields. Now, with the donation of quality books from Taiwan, NCL hopes to expand and create new channels for cultural exchange between the two nations, looking forward to fruitful developments as a result. Taiwan Corner is an important trademark developed by NCL in order to deepen international exchange, promote understanding of Taiwan among the citizens of different countries, and popularize Taiwan’s image throughout the world. The planning of each Taiwan Corner focuses on promoting Taiwan’s history, local culture, and promoting Taiwan’s cultural image and related information. Curated based on local needs, Taiwan Corners present diverse published materials suited to offer a launching pad from which citizens of various countries can learn about Taiwan at their own local libraries. This donation from NCL included children’s picture books, three-dimensional pop-up books and maps of Taiwan, as well as books on a variety of diverse themes from Taiwan, including history, local cultures, the natural environment, literature, arts, and more.

Minister Gina expressed that Taiwan has long been one of Eswatini’s most genuine partners, with collaboration extending beyond economic realms to include culture, information, and education. He expressed his sincere gratitude and affirmation for the establishment of this Taiwan Corner and expressed his hope that it will serve as a cultural bridge across which further mutual understanding and friendship can be promoted between the two nations. In addition to the donation ceremony, Minister Thambo Gina and colleagues toured the NCL Main Library and the Digitization Center, engaging in professional exchange including learning about NCL’s experience with digitization, particularly the digitization of ancient texts. 

Located next to the Taiwanese embassy in Eswatini’s capital city Mbabane, the Eswatini National Library Service is an important center of cultural education with a mission to provide professional and equitable library, reference, and information services for all. The establishment of a Taiwan Corner in the library will not only enrich Eswatini’s Chinese-language library collection, it will also serve as a starting point for more cultural exchange and collaboration. We thank the Taiwanese Embassy in Eswatini, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Education, and the International Trade Administration of the Ministry of Economic Affairs for their assistance in the facilitating this donation. The completion of this donation emphasizes the value Taiwan places on cultural exchange.