President Chen Shui-bian met with Tuvalu Prime Minister Apisai Ielemia and his wife at the Presidential Office on the morning of December 24. The president, on behalf of the government and people of the ROC (Taiwan), expressed a warm welcome to Prime Minister Ielemia on another visit to Taiwan, as well as thanking him and his nation for efforts made on behalf of Taiwan.
President Chen said Prime Minister Ielemia was most recently in Taiwan in September to attend the opening ceremonies of the 2007 IWAS World Wheelchair & Amputee Games. One month later, he attended the Second Taiwan-Pacific Allies Summit in Majuro of the Marshall Islands. Prime Minister Ielemia is in Taiwan this time to attend ceremonies marking the inauguration of the Ching Fu Group Headquarters. This is the third time this year he has met with President Chen.
President Chen reiterated his appreciation to the government and people of Tuvalu for their staunch support for Taiwan's entry into the United Nations and the World Health Organization, and for advocating Taiwan's participation in the international community. The president said Taiwan's mobile medical team has held many free clinics in Tuvalu during the past year. He added he hopes that the two countries will continue to strengthen medical exchanges as well as other cooperative projects. Meanwhile, since 2003, Taiwan's agricultural technical mission in Tuvalu has planted over 20 types of fruit and vegetables in that island nation. This has contributed to improving the diet and health of the people of that nation. The president said Taiwan's agricultural mission deserves praise for the many accomplishments it has achieved in Tuvalu.
Prime Minister Ielemia expressed his gratitude for the medical and agricultural assistance provided to his nation by Taiwan. He also said that Taiwan's mobile medical team received a warm welcome from the people in his nation, noting that many residents from remote islands specially made a trip to the capital to visit the clinic set up by the team. Prime Minister Ielemia also said the Taiwan agricultural mission stationed in Tuvalu has greatly improved the diet of the people of Tuvalu, and he offered his thanks again for this assistance.
Prime Minister Ielemia and his wife were accompanied to the Presidential Office in the morning by Minister of Foreign Affairs James C. F. Huang. Also in attendance was Secretary-General to the President Yeh Chu-lan.