Guatemala's President Alvaro Colom arrived at Taipei Wednesday to attend the ROC Double Ten National Day celebrations, called on Ma at the Presidential Office to sign the joint communique before his departure.
The Taiwan News reported that President Ma Ying-jeou and visiting Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom Caballeros signed a joint communique Saturday, pledging to strengthen cooperation in key areas and boost bilateral ties of more than seven decades.
The two presidents expressed gratification at the completion of the first stage in the expansion of the CA-09 highway in the Central American country and expressed hope that second-stage work will begin as soon as possible. In addition to the three-phase expansion of the highway, the two also planned to make a feasibility study for widening another section of the highway's north route leading to Port Barrios. The two reaffirmed continuing cooperation in developing automated fingerprint identification systems for Guatemalan police to help authorities improve social order. President Ma also said Taiwan will help Guatemala improve its penitentiary system, including constructing a prison. On bilateral ties, the two presidents reviewed Taiwan's cooperation programs in Guatemala.
President Colom expressed his appreciation to Taiwan's agricultural missions stationed in his country, and specifically highlighted the benefits brought about by papaya exports, vegetable cultivation and exports, and tilapia cultivation.
The two presidents also stressed cooperation in various fields, including improving life in rural areas of Guatemala by promoting food safety, the elimination of poverty, housing construction, vocational training for women and health care.
On bilateral trade, the two presidents agreed to promote Taiwanese investment in Guatemala and seek new policies to boost trade relations so that the benefits from a bilateral free trade agreement, which came into effect in July 2006, can be optimized.
The two presidents also stressed the importance of Taiwan's investment and trade office stationed in the country in terms of providing guidance to small- and medium-sized enterprises and narrowing Guatemala's digital divide.
President Colom also expressed his intention to invite Taiwan's Formosa Plastics Group to invest in an integrated energy project in his country.
Guatemala is one of Taiwan's 23 diplomatic allies, half of which are in Latin America and the Caribbean.
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