On May 9, 2023, the meeting of the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) Credit Fund was convened and approved two credit facilities worth 9 million euros which is applicable to the CEE Credit Fund once again. The two credit facility will help the Taiwanese company's investment project in Slovenia and the Czech Republic to build bilateral economic and trade relationships. Since the CEE Credit Fund approved a total of 10-million-euro credit facility on November 30, 2022, the CEE Credit Fund once again approved the two credit facilities, which will have continued offering concrete support to further strengthen economic and trade ties between Taiwan and CEE countries.
In recent years, interactions between Taiwan and European countries have continued to intensify. Taiwan's technology industry and democracy are highly recognized and praised by the world. European countries dignitaries and enterprises continue to visit Taiwan in an endless stream. Economic and trade cooperation in the both side industry are expected to further strengthened. The two credit facilities are concrete manifestations of bilateral cooperation expectations.
To support and deepen the industrial development cooperation between Taiwan and CEE countries, National Development Council (NDC) Minister Kung Ming-hsin announced to set up a US$1 billion credit fund at the beginning of 2022. After cross-agency efforts, the NDC-led CEE Credit Fund has begun operation since 2022. Taiwan EximBank is appointed to implement the CEE Credit Fund. Taiwan Representative Offices in CEE countries have cooperated with Taiwan EximBank to explore potential projects and visit potential clients. Taiwan EximBank has also tried to find potential loan applications from existing and outstanding Taiwan enterprises. Considering that Taiwan and CEE countries have their competitive industries and technologies which can support and complement each other to create mutually beneficial development, whichever enterprises from Taiwan and CEE countries are interested in investment projects or joint ventures in CEE countries can apply for the CEE Credit Fund. Furthermore, if both side enterprises are interested in building the stable supply chain or trade and procurement relationships, they can also apply for the CEE Credit Fund.
The CEE Credit Fund aims to finance industrial cooperation projects between Taiwan and CEE countries on competitive terms and become an alternative funding source for enterprises. In addition to creating complementary benefits and partnerships in industries and technologies, economic benefits of both side industrial cooperation projects will help further strengthen the substantive relationships between Taiwan and CEE countries. Considering that external trade is Taiwan economy's foundation, the CEE Credit Fund will help expand the partnerships with other countries and build secure supply chain. With consistent progress in CEE Credit Fund and increasing in applications, we are confident that the purpose and benefits of CEE Credit Fund will come to fruition.
With flourishing interactions between Taiwan and CEE countries and bilateral complementary advantages, the potential and mutual benefits are expected to be considerable. Therefore, we encourage enterprises to make effective use of the CEE Credit Fund. We believe that the CEE Credit Fund will facilitate economic, industrial and trade cooperation between Taiwan and CEE countries. Thus, in the long term, mutually beneficial relationships between Taiwan and CEE Countries are expected to be established and grow closer.