Wednesday, July 04, 2007

PRESIDENT LAUDS TAIWAN-CENTRAL AMERICA EXCHANGE, FRIENDSHIP

Taipei, July 3 (CNA) President Chen Shui-bian lauded the firm friendship and ever greater exchanges Taiwan enjoys with Central American countries Tuesday, and expressed hope that they will continue supporting Taiwan's international participation in the future.

Central American countries have been supportive of Taiwan's participation in international organizations and cooperated with Taiwan on political, social and economical development for a long time, Chen said at the opening ceremony of the 22nd conference of the Forum of Legislative Presidents of Central America.

The conference was held in Taipei for the second time in its 12-year history and the first time since 2000 with 31 parliamentary heavyweights from seven Latin American and Caribbean countries participating.

Taiwan's evident friendship with Central America can be seen in its active involvement in the region's processes of integration, Chen said, citing as examples Taiwan's membership in Central American Bank for Economic Integration in 1991, Taiwan's summit with its Central American allies that has been alternately held between Taiwan and Central America since 1997, Taiwan's observership in Central American Parliament and the Forum of Legislative Presidents of Central America since 1999, and its membership in the Central American Integration System in 2000.

Starting in 2003, Taiwan also signed free trade agreements (FTAs) with five Central American allies, he added.

The sustained development of a democratic Taiwan importantly contributes to stability and security in the Asian Pacific region and world peace, he said, stressing that the only path leading to Taiwan's continuing prosperity and development is democracy, which is also its best weapon against China's authoritarian regime.

Julio Cesar Valentin, speaker of the House of Representatives of the Dominican Republic and current chairman of the forum, led a delegation from other countries, include Phillip Zuniga of Belize, Ruben Orellana of El Salvador, Ruben Dario Morales Veliz of Guatemala, Roberto Micheletti of Honduras, Rene Nunez of Nicaragua and Susana Richa de Torrijos from Panama.

The biannual forum, founded in Honduras in 1995, is composed of presidents or legislative representatives of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and Belize. Parliamentary leaders from the Dominican Republic were first admitted to the forum in 2000.

Taiwan applied to be an observer of the forum in 1999 when Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng was approved as a permanent observer of the group.