On July 10 at the Office of the President, Vice President Annette Lu met with Chamber of Deputies President Alfredo Pacheco of the Dominican Republic, and welcomed his visit.
In the meeting, the vice president introduced to Pacheco her Democratic Pacific Union, whose subordinate Pacific Congressional Caucus will be launched on December 10 this year. Therefore, she invited the Dominican Republic counterpart to participate in the caucus although the country is not located in the Pacific Rim.
She also congratulated her guest on the signing of the development project of the science park in the capital of the Dominican Republic by President Chen Shui-bian and Dominican Republic President Leonel Antonio Fernandez Reyna, who visited Taiwan last month.
Chamber President Pacheco said to the vice president that it's an honor that the Dominican Republic is a diplomatic ally of the Republic of China (Taiwan), and thanked Taiwan's long-time assistance in agriculture and health care, adding that the Dominican Republic will closely cooperate with Taiwan in developing its high-tech industry. He also told her that the Dominican Republic would like to be actively engaged in the Pacific Congressional Caucus.
Besides Chamber President Pacheco, the other meeting attendees included Dominican Republic Deputies Cristian Paredes Aporte, Elias R. Serulle T., Ramon Rogelio Genao, and Ramon Alejandro Montas, whose visit to the Office of the President was accompanied by Taiwan's Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Francisco L.Y. Hwang.