The new Ambassador from the Republic of Honduras to the ROC, René Francisco Umaña Chinchilla, presented his credentials to President Ma Ying-jeou on the morning of September 2.
The ceremony was held at 9:30 a.m. at the Presidential Office. Ambassador Umaña was accompanied by Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Department of Protocol José María Liu. Other officials witnessing the ceremony included Presidential Secretary-General Liouyi Liao and Minister of Foreign Affairs Timothy Chin-tien Yang.
After receiving Ambassador Umaña’s credentials, President Ma, on behalf of the government and people of the ROC, welcomed Ambassador Umaña on his arrival in Taiwan to assume his new position. He also praised Ambassador Umaña as a distinguished entrepreneur and diplomat. Previously, Ambassador Umaña served as an executive at a number of important companies in Honduras. From 1993 to 1994 he served as ambassador to the ROC for one year, after which he served as Honduran ambassador to Korea and then as consul general to Los Angeles in the United States. President Ma remarked that Ambassador Umaña is a very senior diplomat and that he would especially like to extend a cordial welcome to him on coming back to the ROC after 16 years to serve as ambassador again.
President Ma stated that the ROC and Honduras have long maintained friendly relations. In January of this year, President Ma led a delegation to Honduras to attend the inauguration of President Porfirio Lobo Sosa as that nation's president, and personally extended his congratulations and support to his counterpart. While attending the ceremonies in Honduras, President Ma and President Lobo held discussions and reached consensus on improving bilateral relations. The two expressed their hopes that bilateral cooperation will continue to move forward based on existing projects and agreements, he said.
Ambassador Umaña forwarded the best wishes of President Lobo to President Ma. He also stated that the ROC has continuously been a true friend to Honduras, and that the ROC government has provided enormous assistance, especially when Honduras is in need after experiencing natural disasters. Ambassador Umaña said that he will do his utmost to further strengthen relations between the two countries.