臺北市長歡迎酒會中英文致詞全文
Mayor Ladie Jack of Majuro in the Marshall Islands; Mayor of Quezon City in the Philippines; and Mayor Sakurada Hiroshi of Hirosaki in Japan; and our friend director of AIT孫曉雅處長. Your Excellency Ambassador Bowman, Dean of Diplomatic Corps; and all the ambassadors, city representatives and distinguished guests and all our friends who have joined us today, good evening and Happy Year of the Rabbit!
It is my great honor to celebrate the Taiwan Lantern Festival with all of you with our distinguished guests tonight as we, citizens of Taipei, host guests from all over the world. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to everyone for your support and to again extend our warm welcome to all of you to Taipei City. I would also like to acknowledge our sister cities: Majuro city and Quezon City and their respective mayors for being here with us tonight, which is the testament of our strong, long-standing friendships and I share my spotlight with both of you. We actually had another representative of a sister city celebrating the event with us earlier, the mayor of Lithuania’s capital, Vilnius, who unfortunately had to leave early due to prior commitments but I surely know his heart is with us. Thank you and welcome!
The Taiwan Lantern Festival was first held in Taipei in 1990, and since 2001, it has been held in different cities throughout Taiwan and this year, it has returned to Taipei after 23 years. This is the first large international event that we host in Taipei City since the relaxation of COVID restrictions and it is also the first of such festivals that we sprinkle exhibitions throughout the city. The integration of creative lantern designs in an urban jungle, densely populated metropolitan area will be a milestone for future lantern festivals to look up to.
Through the Festival, we are determined to make our name known across the globe and grow Taipei’s footprint in the world. With all of our international friends here as witnesses today, let me stress that my responsibility as mayor is to elevate Taipei’s standing in the international community and cement its place as a top tier international city. Accomplishing this goal will be the most integral part of my tenure and I hope to make citizens of Taipei proud by achieving this objective.
As the capital of Taiwan, we will lead international dialogues and exchanges. We will proactively go to various parts of the world to introduce and promote Taipei. Our doors will always be wide open to welcome visitors and friends to come to Taipei, and encourage dialogues and exchanges of ideas.
As mayor of Taipei, which is an indispensable member of the international community and the engine of progress of Taiwan, I will lead by example over the next four years and beyond to ensure Taipei shines on the global stage.
As the world gathers here in Taipei, we aim to become a focal point for international exchanges between Asia and the world. From our upcoming Smart City Summit and Expo in March to subsequent symposium on sustainability, economy, and culture, we will bring Taipei to the world, we will let the world see Taipei, we will let the world see Taiwan, and we will let the world see the Republic of China.
I would like to thank you again for joining us at this year’s Taiwan Lantern Festival in Taipei, and I hope to see you back here again soon. Through city diplomacy, we can create a better future together. On a lighter note, two of my three sons were born in the year of the rabbit and they are always full of vigor. Rabbits are cuddly, but vibrant and energetic at the same time. As I toast all of you for a Happy Chinese New Year, I wish everyone to be full of energy. Let’s keep going like Energizer bunnies. Thank you again for coming. Cheers!
馬紹爾馬久羅市Ladie Jack市長、菲律賓奎松市市長、日本弘前市櫻田宏（SAKURADA Hiroshi）市長、AIT孫曉雅處長、使節團團長柏安卓大使（Afmb. Andrea Clare Bowman）以及在場的各位大使、國際友好城市代表及貴賓們，大家晚安！兔年快樂！
我非常榮幸邀請各位貴賓齊聚一堂慶祝「2023臺北燈會在臺北」，今晚是由我們臺北市民來招待從世界各地而來的貴客。我由衷感謝各位的支持，並再度歡迎各位蒞臨臺北市。我也要特別指出臺北市的姐妹市：馬紹爾馬久羅市及菲律賓奎松市的市長也來到現場，這證明了我們雙方友誼堅固、歷久彌新。事實上，我們還有另一個姊妹市代表，立陶宛首都維爾紐斯的市長日前也來到了臺北，但他因為行程緣故而先行離臺，但我知道他的心意與我們同在。謝謝您們，歡迎！
第一次的臺北燈會是1990年在臺北舉辦。2001年起，臺北燈會就輪流在臺北不同城市舉辦。今年是臺北燈會在睽違23年後重返臺北。這是新冠疫情解封後臺北市舉辦的第一場大型國際活動，也是首次在都會密集區舉辦的城市型燈會，也將是未來的燈會的里程碑。
透過這一次的臺北燈會，我們決心要讓我們的名聲全球知曉，也要讓臺北的足跡踏遍全世界。今天有諸多的國際友人在這裡做見證，我要強調我身為市長的責任，就是要提升臺北在國際社會的地位，確使臺北在國際一流的城市中佔有一席之地。完成這項目標將會是我任內最不可或缺的任務，我希望臺北市民因達成此項目標而感到驕傲。
身為臺北的首善之都，臺北將領導國際對話與交流。我們會積極主動地到世界各地，介紹臺北、行銷臺北；我們也會打開大門，把世界各大城市的訪賓友人帶來臺北，並鼓勵對話與理念的交流。
臺北市是國際社會中不可缺少的一員，也是臺北進步的動力，身為臺北市市長，我將以身作則，在接下來四年，乃至於更長的時間，帶領臺北在全球舞臺上發光。
當世界在此匯聚，臺北希望成為亞洲與國際交流的焦點城市。從我們三月即將舉行的智慧城市展，到永續、經濟和文化等等各種方面的論壇，不論是我們出去，還是讓世界進來，我們都要讓全世界看見臺北，看見臺北，看見中華民國。
再次感謝大家來參加「2023臺北燈會在臺北」，希望各位遠道而來的朋友繼續造訪臺北，透過城市外交共創更美好的未來。在此也分享一點我個人的事情，我三個兒子中有兩個都出生在兔年，他們都充滿的活力。兔子很可愛，但同時也很好動和精力充沛。現在，我邀請在場的各位貴賓共同舉杯，祝福大家新年快樂，也祝願大家在新的一年充滿活力，就像勁量電池的兔子一樣。Cheers!
