Secretariat, Taipei City Government

On April 17, 2026, Taipei City Government Deputy Secretary-General and Executive Director of the Taipei City International Affairs Advisory Council Chen-Hua Yu received a four-member delegation from Taipei’s sister city, Prague, led by City Councilor and Commissioner Tomáš Slabihoudek. The two sides engaged in extensive discussions on cultural exchanges, public safety governance, emergency response systems, and smart city development, deepening the longstanding cooperation between the two cities.

Deputy Secretary-General Yu noted that this year marked 6 years of sister-city relations between Taipei and Prague since the signing of their sister-city agreement in 2020. Over the past 6 years, the two cities have cooperated in areas such as pandemic prevention, wildlife conservation (including a pangolin breeding program), music and cultural exchanges, education, smart city initiatives, and technological innovations, achieving impressive results.

Nearly 6 years have passed since Prague’s previous municipal delegation visited Taipei. Councilor Slabihoudek therefore expressed his pleasure at being able to return to Taipei. He noted that the current delegation’s visit focused primarily on cultural affairs, public safety governance, emergency response systems, and startup industries. Earlier that morning, the delegation visited the Songshan Cultural and Creative Park and expressed great admiration for Taipei’s achievements in cultural and creative industries. In the afternoon, the delegation visited the Minsheng Water Reclamation Center to obtain ideas for Prague’s forthcoming waterworks science center.

During the meeting, Deputy Secretary-General Yu encouraged Prague to continue strengthening bilateral cooperation through platforms such as the Taipei International Cities Forum, the Smart City Summit & Expo, and Taipei’s Scholarships for Foreign Learners of Chinese. The proposal was enthusiastically received by the Prague delegation. Both sides also reached a consensus to further institutionalize bilateral exchanges through reciprocal visits by the mayors of both cities and the regularization of municipal-level cooperation. Another exchange that was discussed was the arrangement of periodic overseas performances in Prague by the Taipei Chinese Orchestra and Taipei Symphony Orchestra as part of their international touring programs. Both sides also expressed hope for additional reciprocal visits and exchanges.

The present visit by the Prague delegation was made in response to Taipei Mayor Wan-An Chiang’s invitation earlier this year to Prague Mayor Bohuslav Svoboda to attend the second Taipei International Cities Forum, which was held on March 19. Although Mayor Svoboda was unable to attend because of official commitments, he appointed Councilor and Commissioner Tomáš Slabihoudek to lead the current delegation visit to Taiwan in April. This delegation also included Jiří Ptáček, Chairman of the Committee for Security and Crime Prevention; Zuzana Hocková, Head of International Relations at the Mayor’s Office; and Alena Kopečná, International Relations Specialist at the Mayor’s Office. Representative of the Czech Republic to Taiwan David Steinke and Deputy Representative Martina Rubešková accompanied the delegation during the meeting. Taipei City Government officials, including Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Cultural Affairs Yu-Hsin Chen and Deputy Commissioner of the Taipei City Police Department Shu-Fang Chang, were also present at the reception.