President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) arrived in Belize on Sunday afternoon (April 2) local time and was greeted by the country’s Governor General Froyla Tzalam, Foreign Ministry Chief Executive Officer Amalia Mai, and a military salute.
Belize marks the last destination of Tsai’s week-long diplomatic trip through the Americas. In the evening, she attended a banquet and met with members of the local Taiwanese community in Belize.
On Monday (April 3), she delivered a speech at the Belizean National Assembly. She will also attended the signing ceremony of a technical cooperation framework agreement and attend banquets hosted by Tzalam and Belizean Prime Minister John Briceno. Tsai signed a Technical Cooperation Framework Agreement on April 3, which will serve to establish further cooperation programmes between Belize and Taiwan in areas such as agriculture, forestry, fisheries, technology, education, climate change, youth and women, health, tourism and other areas of mutual consent. The signing was witnessed by Hon. John Briceño, Prime Minister of Belize, and H.E. Dr. Tsai Ing-Wen, President of the Republic of China (Taiwan).
During the ceremony, President Tsai presented Prime Minister Briceño with a donation of 5,000 laptops from Taiwanese manufacturers to assist Belize in improving learning resources for vulnerable groups such as children and women in rural areas.
Belize and Taiwan share long-standing bilateral relations spanning almost 34 years. The signing and handing-over ceremonies were part of activities organized during the State Visit of the President of the Republic of China (Taiwan) and her delegation.
Prior to her arrival in Belize, Tsai attended the inauguration of the Chimaltenango Regional Hospital in Guatemala, the construction of which had been funded by Taiwan. She thanked both Taiwanese and Guatemalans who worked on the project in the past 18 months for their hard work in her speech, adding that the hospital will serve over two million residents in the local area and neighboring provinces.