On 26 March, Former Vice President of Taiwan and Academician of Academia Sinica Dr. Chen, Chien-jen attended online “Presidents’ Forum 2021” and delivered a keynote speech titled Global Health and Universal Vaccination”. This forum was held by National Science and Technology Development Agency(NSTDA) which is the highest level of scientific research institute in Thailand. Taipei Economic and Cultural Office was invited to the forum as an important counterpart.

During his keynote speech, Dr. Chen explained on the “Taiwan Model” about how it contained COVID-19 pandemic and its success in remaining a low mortality and still earning a high economic growth rate last year. He pointed out that the consensus among experts now is that only effective COVID-19 vaccines will end the pandemic. Thus the acceleration of developing new vaccine platforms has occurred as well. Yet, novel vaccine platforms may also increase the response time when new viruses emerge in the future. Dr. Chen emphasized that equal distribution of vaccines globally without vaccine nationalism to assure the universal immunization is essential for the elimination of COVID-19. He concluded that global solidarity through international cooperation is the key to win our battle against viruses.

Representative of Taiwan to Thailand, Dr. Lee, Ying-yuan, also agreed on strengthening international cooperation. Dr. Lee expressed his confidence in the steadfast partnership between Taiwan and Thailand. As one of Taiwan’s valuable regional partners, the two countries will continue to cooperate reciprocally on various issues through diversified channels along this yet-to-end journey of combating COVID-19 pandemic.

President of NSTDA, Dr. Narong Sirilertworakul concluded that the BCG strategy of Thailand is not just to echo the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of UN. The ultimate aim is to develop a more sustainable and inclusive economic growth model by incorporating the participation of all stakeholders, such as governments, businesses, civil societies and international partners.

Other outstanding international researchers participated in the discussions are Prof. Dr. Hassan Mandal ( President of TÜBITAK from Turkey), Prof. Joachim von Braun ( Director of Center for Development Research (ZEF) in Bonn University from Germany), and Prof. Emeritus Dr. Kraisid Tontisirin ( Senator of Thailand and Former Director of Food and Nutrition Division, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations).

Dr. Chen, Chien-jen is a Johns Hopkins-trained epidemiologist and an expert in viruses. He has received many honors and awards domestically and internationally for his influential research. He’s well-known for the researches on the arsenic exposure and its link to blackfoot disease and other studies on liver cancer risks, etc. Being a faithful Catholic, he was invited to visit the Vatican several times by Pope John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Pope Francis. He has been invested as a Knight of the Equestrian of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem (2010) and a Knight of the Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great (2013).