President Chen Shui-bian met with President Elias Antonio Saca Gonzalez of El Salvador and his wife on October 18. In the meeting, President Chen expressed his appreciation to President Saca for speaking out for Taiwan's bid to join the UN and offering staunch support for its accession to the WHO.
President Chen said that the signing of agreements on volunteers dispatching and agro-technology cooperation between Taiwan and El Salvador during President Saca's visit will surely further enhance the friendship and cooperation between the two countries.
Speaking of the signing of a Taiwan-El Salvador Free Trade Agreement (FTA), President Chen said it is regrettable that after three rounds of negotiation, the issue of sugar export quota remains unsettled, deterring the two countries from signing the agreement.
President Saca said El Salvador has been looking forward to signing the FTA with Taiwan. He expressed his hope that the two sides could work out a resolution and reach a consensus on sugar export quotas as the quota issue concerns job opportunities in El Salvador.
President Chen responded that he hoped the two sides could put aside their differences regarding this issue so as to speed up the signing of the FTA, which is urgently needed for attracting more Taiwanese investment in El Salvador.
Secretary-General to the President Mark Chen and Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Javier Ching-Shan Hou were also present at the meeting.