Almere City Mayor Franc Weerwind, Deputy Mayor Maike Veeningen, along with a delegation composed of 29 city officials and circular economy professionals visited Tainan on November 4. The Dutch delegation from Tainan's friendship city was escorted by NTIO representative Guy Wittich, deputy representative Andre Verkade and office members. The guests visited Chimei Museum and shared a meal in the museum with Tainan City officials, Taiwan Sugar Corporation Chairman Charles Y. Huang and high level executives. This is Mayor Weerwind's second visit to Tainan, the first visit was in September, 2017. Mayor Li Men-yen studied in the Netherlands when he was younger and has fond memories of the country. During the meeting Mayor Li warmly welcomed the Dutch delegation and thanked Mayor Weerwind for visiting again.
Mayor Li recalled that when the Almere City delegation visited last year, he had just assumed the position of acting mayor and was much honored to meet Mayor Weerwind. Li said that since Mayor Weerwind had visited Tainan a year ago, he must feel more familiar with Tainan now. Li also mentioned the Holland Pavilion located at the newly opened 2018 Taichung World Flora Exposition, which the delegation had visited. The Pavilion is almost completely made of recyclable materials. The example shows that Taiwan is realizing circular architecture, a concept introduced from the Netherlands. Li went on to express that he hopes Almere City and the Netherlands can bring the same concept to the Taiwan International Orchids Show which Tainan hosts every March. Finally, Li wished Almere City great success in hosting the 2022 Floriade.
During his remarks, Almere City Mayor Weerwind talked about the good memories he had of Tainan during his last visit, and he was again deeply touched by the city's energy and vitality this time. Next year will mark the 10th anniversary of the friendship city relationship between Tainan and Almere, and he looks forward to a long relationship between the two cities. Mayor Weerwind also thanked Taiwan Sugar Corporation for working with the Netherlands to promote circular economy. Times have changed, he remarked, and we should move beyond parochialism, break down stereotypes, and share new knowledge and discoveries to stimulate more cooperations.
Interestingly, the day the Dutch guests visited was the day Tainan City government, The Pokémon Company, and Chimei Museum held the Pokémon GO Safari Zone event. The delegation was very impressed by the lively gathering. The major event, which combines digital technology with tourism, attracted large volumes of players from home and abroad to Tainan and stimulated the city's tourism and related businesses.
Tainan City and Almere City became friendship cities in 2009. Almere is the youngest city in the Netherlands and has long been promoting innovation, city afforestation, circular economy, and international collaborations. Since he took office in 2015, Mayor Weerwind has been focusing on rolling out innovative solutions to realize circular economy and sharing the results with the world. Tainan will continue to interact and share experiences with Almere City in this area as Tainan gradually transforms into an eco-friendly and sustainable city.