The Office of the President held a press conference on the afternoon of January 7 to announce that President Ma Ying-jeou will lead a delegation from the ROC in late January to attend the inauguration of Republic of Honduras President-elect Juan Orlando Hernandez. On the journey, the president will first travel to Africa to visit the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe and Burkina Faso. The delegation will depart from Taiwan on January 23 and return on January 30. The press conference announcing the trip was presided over by Presidential Office Spokesperson Li Jia-Fei (李佳霏), while Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Simon Shen-Yeaw Ko (柯森耀) introduced the planned itinerary.
Vice Minister Ko stated that Sao Tome and Principe Prime Minister Gabriel Arcanjo Ferreira da Costa, during a visit to Taiwan last November, forwarded an invitation from his nation's president Manuel Pinto da Costa for President Ma to select an appropriate time to visit his nation. Vice Minister Ko also pointed out that the Republic of Honduras held a presidential election on November 24 of last year and that it plans to hold inauguration ceremonies for the president-elect in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa on January 27. President Ma, he said, has been invited to attend the proceedings, so the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has arranged an itinerary that allows the president to accept both of these invitations.
Vice Minister Ko stated that, in line with past precedent, representatives from the political, business, and academic communities will join the president on the trip. The delegation will depart on the eight-day trip on January 23 and return to Taiwan on January 30. The president will first travel to the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, after which he will stop in Burkina Faso before heading onward to the Republic of Honduras.
Vice Minister Ko also stated that the main focus of this trip will be on "working hand in hand with allies for mutual benefit and co-prosperity." It is expected that President Ma on this trip will gain a better understanding of the results of various projects carried out with ROC assistance. In addition, the visits will solidify bilateral bonds, help generate mutual benefit, and create prosperity, he said.