President Ma Ying-jeou met on the afternoon of October 10 with a delegation from Burkina Faso led by that nation's National Assembly President Soungalo Appolinaire Ouattara and Mrs. Ouattara. President Ma, on behalf of the government and people of the ROC, welcomed the group to Taiwan to take part in celebrations associated with ROC's 2013 Double Tenth National Day, and briefed the group on some of the achievements resulting from cooperation projects between the two countries.
In remarks, President Ma stated that the ROC and Burkina Faso re-established formal diplomatic relations in 1994 and that next year will mark the 20th anniversary of this event. The two countries maintain close political, economic, and cultural ties, he said. President Ma also noted that one member of the delegation, National Assemblyman Bedouma Alain Yoda, has previously visited Taiwan three times, which is an indicator of the close alliance and bond between the ROC and Burkina Faso.
The president commented that he led a delegation from the ROC to Burkina Faso in April of last year, and the efforts of the government and people there to improve the wellbeing of Burkina Faso made a deep impression on him. He also said that the level of national development there had exceeded his expectations. The president in particular noted that cooperation projects being carried out by the two countries are proceeding smoothly. He cited the example of the National Hospital of Blaise Compaore that was built with assistance from the ROC, saying that the hospital is already yielding its desired results by successfully enhancing the nation's development and the quality of medical care in Burkina Faso. President Ma expressed delight at the success of this project.
The president mentioned that while in Burkina Faso he visited some of the suburbs of the capital Ouagadougou to better understand the usage of solar-powered lamps donated by the ROC to Burkina Faso under the "Light from Taiwan" project. He said he saw many schoolchildren sitting on the ground doing their homework using the lamps, which was extremely moving. He added that school teachers also told him that student performance had improved since the lamps were received from Taiwan.
While he was in Burkina Faso, the president said, that nation was seeing a large inflow of refugees from the Republic of Mali, which was impacting the economy of Burkina Faso. President Ma expressed concern over this situation and stressed that the decisive steps taken by President Blaise Compaore, together with assistance provided by the ROC government, helped to successfully resolve this crisis. Nonetheless, President Ma stated, Burkina Faso's national development is still frequently impacted by events in neighboring countries. He said that the ROC will do what it can to help Burkina Faso address this situation.
Lastly, the president also thanked the Burkina Faso government for speaking on behalf of the ROC at many international venues. He said he hopes that the itinerary of the delegation during their visit will help to further enhance the cooperative relationship between the two countries and further solidify the bilateral alliance.
The delegation also included National Assemblywoman and President of the Assembly's Burkina Faso-Taiwan Parliamentary Group of Friendship Marie Gisele Guigma/Diasso, National Assemblyman Rabi Yameogo, and Burkina Faso Ambassador to the ROC Jacques Y. Sawadogo and Mrs. Sawadogo. The group was escorted to the Presidential Office by Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Simon Shen-Yeaw Ko (柯森耀) to meet President Ma. Also attending the meeting were Secretary-General to the President Timothy Chin-Tien Yang (楊進添) and National Security Council Advisor Francis Yi-Hua Kan (甘逸驊).