Brussels, 13/03/2003 (Agence Europe) - Announced over two years ago, the opening of a European Commission office in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, became a reality this week. The office, which is set up for purely commercial and practical reasons as the Commission has stressed on several occasions, should allow relations to be strengthened in areas such as trade, investment, economic co-operation, research and education. It "confirms the sustained development of trade links between the European Union and Taiwan", Commissioner Chris Patten commented, recalling that the "volume of our bilateral trade and investment flows makes Taiwan an important economic partner of the EU". "We are delighted this partnership is to be reinforced", he added.