Your Majesty King Mswati III; Your Royal Highness Inkhosikati LaDube; Distinguished Delegation from the Kingdom of Swaziland; Distinguished Guests; Ladies and Gentlemen:
Good Evening to you all! Sa-ni-Bon-Na-ni!
I am very pleased to know that everything has gone smoothly since Your Majesty King Mswati III and your high-level delegation arrived in Taiwan on June 15.
Tonight's banquet marks the sixth time that I have met with Your Majesty during your visit to Taiwan. Nothing is more joyful than to meet and have a long conversation with one's best friend and closest brother, and there can never be enough of such meetings.
As I have said before, Your Majesty brings us good fortune. Your arrival in Taiwan brought good weather not only for the military welcoming ceremony but also, that same day, for the ceremony opening the Hsuehshan Tunnel to vehicular traffic. As the world's fifth-longest and Southeast Asia's longest highway tunnel, it is Taiwan's great pride. Although its 13-kilometer length makes it the fifth-longest tunnel, it is said that the engineering difficulties involved were the greatest ever encountered worldwide, taking 15 years to complete. More than being the pride of Taiwan, the Hsuehshan Tunnel is a wonder in the global history of construction.
I look forward to having the chance to accompany you on a trip through the Hsuehshan Tunnel to visit beautiful Yilan County the next time Your Majesty pays a visit to Taiwan.
Your Majesty is young yet accomplished. You have led your country for 20 years despite being only 38 years of age, whereas I have served as president for only six years. Therefore, although Your Majesty is younger than I am, your experience in governing is much richer than mine. We deeply appreciate Your Majesty's sincerity and efforts in assisting Taiwan by providing us with highly valuable suggestions on how to expand Taiwan's international space and participate in the international community. Once again, I would like to express my heart-felt gratitude to your Majesty for your support and encouragement.
The Kingdom of Swaziland became independent thanks the efforts of His Majesty King Sobhuza II in 1968 and, in that very year, established diplomatic ties with our country. For the past 38 years, the two countries have enjoyed solid friendship and cooperation. Since Your Majesty became the leader of Swaziland, your promotion of national development and construction has won the love and support of your people.
I firmly believe that under Your Majesty's outstanding leadership, and with close cooperation between Taiwan and Swaziland, the economy of Swaziland will develop even more rapidly, and its national construction can surge forward.
This time, Your Majesty is leading an important delegation to Taiwan. Besides strengthening the brotherly friendship between our two countries, the other purpose of the delegation is to enhance bilateral trade and investment relations. I fully support the expansion and deepening of such relations. Today, I attended the luncheon for promoting investment in Swaziland, and I am confident that through our government's promotion, more Taiwanese businesspeople will be encouraged to invest in manufacturing ventures in Swaziland.
The current focus of Swaziland's administrative efforts is on attaining greater prosperity through developing its economy and trade, creating job opportunities, and upgrading its industrial standards. Here, Taiwan's successful experience in economic development over the past four decades may serve as a ready reference. The efforts of the delegation led by Your Majesty have, over the past several days, already borne preliminary fruit. I firmly believe that continued cooperation between our two countries will bring concrete results.
In conclusion, I would like to propose a toast to the good health of His Majesty King Mswati III and Her Royal Highness Inkhosikati LaDube, and to the prosperity of the Kingdom of Swaziland. May Taiwan and Swaziland enjoy everlasting friendship and fraternity. Thank you!