Secretariat, Taipei City Government

To welcome international city representatives attending World Masters Games 2025 Taipei & New Taipei City and the Taipei International Cities Forum, Deputy Mayor Wen-Te Chang of Taipei City met with Deputy Mayor Vytautas Mitalas of Vilnius, Lithuania; Mayor Lizy Delaricha of Ganei Tikva, Israel; and Mayor Benjamine Bitton of Dimona, Israel on May 17, 2025. The meetings focused on exchanges in education, technology, urban governance, and cultural exchanges between Taiwan and the three cities.

Deputy Mayor Chang indicated that since Taipei and Vilnius became sister cities in 1998, the two cities have maintained close interactions in education and culture. He highlighted the valuable insights Deputy Mayor Mitalas shared at the forum, particularly regarding the concept of “city as a learning environment.” Deputy Mayor Chang also introduced the current policy regarding the “Ten Great Educational Initiatives of Taipei City” and its international pen pal programs, expressing hope for future practical cooperation in areas such as teacher–student exchanges, educational technology, and youth empowerment.

In his meetings with the delegations from Ganei Tikva and Dimona, Deputy Mayor Chang expressed his appreciation for the mayors’ concrete support of Taipei’s hosting of the World Masters Games and International Cities Forum. The delegations also actively visited the Emergency Operations Center of Taipei City, Traffic Information Center, and t.Hub Taipei to gain an in-depth understanding of Taipei’s practices in smart governance and sustainable development. He further stated that Taipei City has already initiated educational travel and international pen pal programs with Israeli cities, and he encouraged more schools to participate in the programs to enhance cross-cultural understanding and communication among the youths of Taipei city and the two Israeli cities.

Deputy Mayor Chang concluded by expressing his hopes for continued expansion of cooperation with Lithuanian and Israeli cities in education, technology, sports, and culture. He also welcomed the three cities’ participation in events such as the Taipei Smart City Summit & Expo, Taipei Marathon, and Taipei International Dragon Boat Championships , jointly building a diverse, innovative, and globally connected network of friendship.