President Ma Ying-jeou met with Roberto Salcedo, Mayor of the Dominican Republic's capital of Santo Domingo, on the morning of September 3 at the Presidential Office. The president extended a warm welcome to Mayor Salcedo on his visit to Taipei.
President Ma remarked that the Dominican Republic is an important ally of the ROC (Taiwan) in the Caribbean. The president noted that last year he led a delegation to the Dominican Republic to attend the inauguration of President Leonel Fernández. During the visit, Mayor Salcedo invited him to tour Santo Domingo's city hall and also presented him with a key to the city. President Ma said that Taipei City and Santo Domingo established a sister city relationship in 1970, and this is the longest sister city arrangement between a city in Taiwan and a city in a Latin American country. Mayor Salcedo is visiting Taipei to attend the opening ceremonies of the Taipei Deaflympics, and the president said that the mayor will be an important guest at the ceremonies.
The president stated that Mayor Salcedo is devoted to his work and deeply cares about the people, which has earned him high standing in the political community and made him one of the most esteemed political figures in the Dominican Republic. President Ma said he hopes that this visit by Mayor Salcedo will provide an opportunity to further exchange views on a broad range of bilateral cooperation projects and share economic development experiences. The president said he also hopes that Santo Domingo will send resident artists to Taipei in an effort to foster cultural exchanges.
Mayor Salcedo expressed his appreciation to President Ma for taking time out of his busy schedule to meet with him and for the warm reception he has received fom the government here. He also forwarded the best wishes of President Fernández to President Ma. Mayor Salcedo said that the Dominican Republic is a staunch ally of the ROC and that he looks forward to seeing economic and cultural interaction and cooperation between the two nations strengthened even further.
Mayor Salcedo was accompanied to the Presidential Office in the morning by Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Javier Ching-shan Hou. Also in attendance was National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Ho Szu-yin.