President Ma Ying-jeou met on the morning of December 5 with Burkina Faso First Lady Chantal Compaoré. The president, on behalf of the government and people of the ROC, extended a warm welcome to Madame Compaoré on her visit to Taiwan.
The president noted that Madame Compaoré accompanied her husband President Blaise Compaoré to Taiwan on May 20, 2008 to attend his and Vice President Vincent C. Siew's inauguration. Last year, Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) served as President Ma's envoy in attending President Compaoré's inauguration to another term in office. Meanwhile, in October of this year, President Compaoré again led a delegation to Taiwan to participate in the ROC's Double Tenth National Day festivities. The president remarked that high ranking government officials from the two sides maintain close ties, which points to the stable alliance between the countries.
President Ma stated that since the resumption of formal diplomatic ties between the ROC and Burkina Faso in 1994, a number of cooperation projects have been implemented based on the principle of mutual benefit. These initiatives cover a wide range of fields including agriculture, information, medicine, trade, and vocational training. The most notable of the projects include a vocational training cooperation program, development of an information management system at the National Hospital of Blaise Compaoré, and the second stage of an agricultural cooperation project. All of these initiatives have yielded outstanding preliminary results, he said.
The president furthermore said that Madame Compaoré has long been a strong advocate of women's and children's rights, and has been involved in promoting related projects. The ROC is willing to share its experiences in these areas. President Ma added that students from Burkina Faso who are studying in Taiwan have demonstrated excellence in their work, making a deep impression on many people here. He pointed to several students who in two short years have learned to speak Mandarin Chinese fluently, even acting as masters of ceremony at various events. This feat not only demonstrates the strong desire among young people from that nation to learn, but also their tremendous intellect, he said.
Madame Compaoré conveyed President Compaoré's best regards to President Ma and remarked that Burkina Faso is deeply grateful for the assistance provided by the ROC in the areas of agriculture and information. She especially pointed to the Light for Africa project, which provides solar-powered lamps that students in Burkina Faso can use to study in the evening hours. This has enabled them to make great progress in their schoolwork. She called for continued bilateral cooperation and sharing of experience in the future.
Madame Compaoré was accompanied to the Presidential Office in the morning by Minister of Foreign Affairs Timothy Chin-tien Yang (楊進添) to meet President Ma. Also attending the meeting was National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Chih-kung Liu (劉志攻).