President Ma Ying-jeou met on the morning of March 4 with Tuvalu Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Willy Telavi and Mrs. Telavi. On behalf of the government and people of the ROC, the president extended a warm welcome to Prime Minister and Mrs. Telavi on their visit to Taiwan.
The president remarked that in parliamentary elections held in Tuvalu in September last year, Prime Minister Telavi was re-elected to parliament and was also selected as prime minister. President Ma commented that Prime Minister Telavi has held many key posts in the Tuvalu government and is a longstanding friend of the ROC, having visited Taiwan three times before, including once in 1999 when he served as police commissioner, and again in 2007 and 2008 as a member of parliament.
The president added that the ROC's diplomatic relations with Tuvalu date back over 30 years to 1979, longer than any other diplomatic ally in the South Pacific. Over the years, many bilateral cooperation projects have been carried out, including the construction of Tuvalu's central office building, the local Vaiaku Lagi Hotel, and deep-sea fishing boats. The ROC has also dispatched physicians to Tuvalu to provide medical services free of charge. In addition, the two countries maintain youth exchange programs. These initiatives carry important significance for cooperative exchanges between the two sides, he explained.
President Ma expressed his appreciation to Tuvalu for speaking on behalf of Taiwan at many international venues. At the Least Developed Countries Ministerial Conference in India in February, for instance, the representative from Tuvalu mentioned the development assistance provided to Tuvalu by the ROC and attracted much attention from other participants. This, the president said, highlighted the role of the ROC as a provider of international humanitarian aid.
Prime Minister Telavi thanked President Ma for taking time out of his busy schedule to meet with him, stated his desire for continued exchanges and cooperation between the two countries, and reaffirmed Tuvalu's support for the ROC's participation in the international community.
Prime Minister and Mrs. Telavi were accompanied to the Presidential Office in the morning by Deputy Minister of the Interior Chien Tai-Lang and Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Ssu-Tsun Shen to meet President Ma. Also attending the meeting was National Security Council Secretary-General Hu Wei-jen.