Berger was greeted to the Presidential Office with full military honors including a 21-gun salute. In his welcoming address, Chen described the visit as that of "an old friend arriving in stormy weather." It symbolized firm support and genuine friendship for Taiwan, especially as the nation was currently encountering a grave situation and challenges in the international community, Chen noted.
While citing substantive growth of bilateral trade following the signing of a free trade agreement in 2005, with Guatemalan exports to Taiwan increasing by 125 percent since the accord took effect last year, Berger said he hoped to strengthen the bilateral friendship and cooperation through this visit.
Berger believed Guatemala's Central-American location close to the North American Free Trade Agreement area meant it offered good investment opportunities, so he anticipated more interest from Taiwanese investors. Consolidation of the bipartite relationship was the correct way to create a win-win situation for the future, claimed Berger, who vowed to boost manufacturing production, tourism, higher education and energy development in order to seek more cooperative opportunities between the two nations.
During Berger's stay, Guatemalan Minister of Communications Francisco Unda Toriello and ROC Minister of Foreign Affairs James Huang on behalf of their respective governments signed June 20 an "Agreement on Technical Agricultural Cooperation between the Republic of China (Taiwan) and the Republic of Guatemala," MOFA said. This agreement was targeted at accelerating agricultural production and productivity, and significantly improving living standards in both countries.
Chen also accompanied Berger June 21 on the high-speed rail system to Mailiao Township, Yunlin County, where they visited a naphtha-cracking plant operated by the Formosa Plastic Corp., the nation's largest plastics manufacturer, Taiwan's Central News Agency reported the same day. Berger said the government of Taiwan and the conglomerate had agreed to conduct a feasibility study concerning construction of an oil refinery in his country, which would represent an investment of over US$5 billion, according to a June 21 report in the Guatemalan newspaper La Prensa Libre.
"The relationship with Taiwan is not the outcome of the decision made by a president but, rather, one made by the people that identify themselves with the values of their counterpart," Berger was quoted as saying in the La Prensa Libre. Berger's party left Taiwan June 22.
Write to Allen Hsu at allenhsu@mail.gio.gov.tw