President Ma Ying-jeou met on the afternoon of October 9 with a delegation from the Republic of Nauru led by Parliament Speaker Ludwig Scotty. The president, on behalf of the government and people of the ROC, expressed a warm welcome to the delegation, which is in Taiwan to attend the ROC's Double Tenth National Day festivities.
In remarks, the president said that the Republic of Nauru has made every effort to advocate meaningful participation for Taiwan in the international community, including participation in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the International Civil Aviation Organization, and the World Health Organization. The people of the ROC will always remember these gestures, he said. He furthermore noted that this marks Speaker Ludwig's eighth visit to Taiwan, which highlights the close relationship between the two countries.
President Ma stated that when he visited Nauru two years ago he proposed the “360 Project” to help Nauru grow six types of agricultural products over a three-year period that would enable self-sufficiency in these items and reduce imports of these products to zero. The plan also effectively forges cooperation between the two nations in agricultural technology and promotes a nutritious diet, he said. The president stated that he toured a school there and personally helped dish out rice to students. He expressed his hope that students will eat more vegetables and eggs to have a more balanced diet, which would improve the health of the younger generation in that nation.
President Ma furthermore stated that the ROC in the future will extend its “Light from Taiwan” project to Nauru to help it convert from a diesel-powered electricity generation system to a solar-powered one. The ROC will also help Nauru switch to the use of energy-saving light bulbs and lamps. In the future, these energy-saving fixtures and the installation of photovoltaic equipment are expected to reduce power consumption in Nauru by about 14.4% annually and reduce carbon emissions by about 11.2%, he said.
In terms of medical cooperation, the president stated that Taichung Veterans General Hospital has signed a memorandum on the “Taiwan Medical Program to Nauru” with that nation's Ministry of Health. Physicians from the hospital's Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology arrived in Nauru at the end of September and will serve there for three months, he said. The president expressed his confidence that this will significantly enhance medical cooperation between the two nations.
With respect to training programs, President Ma stressed that Taiwan in 2007 began providing Taiwan Scholarships annually to students from Nauru to come to study in Taiwan. Baron Waqa and Aloysius Amwano, two parliamentarians in the visiting delegation, have children who have received these scholarships and are presently studying for a bachelor's degree at Fu Jen Catholic University and a master's degree at Chien Hsin University of Science and Technology , respectively. In addition, the president stated, the ROC is currently cooperating with the United States in promoting the “Pacific Island Leadership Partnership with Taiwan” initiative, via which future leadership talent in Nauru is receiving three months of training. This project is helping to expand the horizons of up-and-coming talent in Nauru, and is designed to train 125 individuals from Pacific island nations over the next five years, he said.
In addition to Parliament Speaker Ludwig, the delegation also included Members of Parliament Baron Waqa, David Adeang, and Aloysius Amwano, and Nauru Ambassador to the ROC Ludwig Dowong Keke and Mrs. Keke. The delegation visited the Presidential Office in the afternoon to meet with President Ma. Also attending the meeting were Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tung Kuoyu (董國猷) and National Security Council Advisor Francis Yi-Hua Kan (甘逸驊).