President Tsai Ing-wen arrived Aug. 16 in Belize after wrapping up a successful trip to Paraguay as part of her nine-day state visit to the allies in Central and South America, respectively.
Officially received by Governor-General Colville Young at Philip S.W. Goldson International Airport outside Belize City, Tsai and her delegation were welcomed by a military honor guard and a large group of cheering Taiwan expatriates.
Following talks with Young, the president was conferred the Order of Belize by the governor-general—Queen Elizabeth II’s representative in the Commonwealth nation—at the Museum of Belize in recognition of her outstanding contributions to advancing bilateral ties.
During Tsai’s acceptance speech, she said Taiwan and Belize have maintained close cooperation since formally establishing ties 30 years ago. This spans areas like agriculture, culture, education, infrastructure and information communication technology, with the many fruitful achievements highly commended by people of both sides, she added.
The president also thanked Young for publicly supporting Taiwan’s international participation, and vowed to keep deepening and expanding exchanges so as to ensure the sustainable development of both countries.
The day before in the Paraguay capital of Asuncion, the president met with Honduras Vice President Olga Alvarado and discussed new avenues for cooperation with a view to further strengthening the bilateral relationship. Agriculture was high on the agenda in light of successful avocado and coffee cultivation initiatives jointly initiated by Taiwan and the Central American ally.
According to the Office of the President, Taiwan will assist Honduras in tapping new markets for its avocado growers in neighboring countries. This is to be accomplished through consulting on seedling cultivation, production, marketing and procurement, with Taiwan set to become a major sales center for exports of the fruit in Asia.
In response, Alvarado described Tsai as a role model for women in Latin America given the scarcity of female heads of state in the region. She also found common ground with the president by sharing her experiences in patriarchal politics.
Later the same day, Tsai participated in a dinner banquet with Taiwan expatriates, Taiwan Scholarship program recipients and special guests like Lin Yu-wei, who is pursuing his footballing dreams with top Paraguay outfit Club Cerro Porteno. She expressed deep gratitude to the attendees for their efforts in fostering closer links between Taiwan and South America.
The president, making her fifth official trip abroad since assuming office in May 2016, is visiting Belize Aug. 16-18. She returns to Taiwan Aug. 20 after a U.S. stopover in Houston. (SFC-E)
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