After a flight of over 20 hours (including a brief refueling stop), a delegation led by President Ma Ying-jeou arrived in the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe at 3:00 p.m. local time on January 24 (11 p.m. Taipei time). The ROC's Ambassador to Sao Tome and Principe Jack Y. T. Cheng (程豫台) and Sao Tome and Principe Presidential Office Protocol Officer Gika Simao boarded the aircraft to welcome President Ma. Sao Tome and Principe President Manuel Pinto da Costa was waiting at the bottom of the stairs to the airplane to welcome President Ma with military honors and traditional cultural performances.
Shortly afterwards, President Ma met with President Pinto da Costa at the Presidential Office, where the two leaders exchanged opinions on topics of mutual interest. After the meeting, the two heads of state held a joint press conference, explaining the outlook for cooperative ties between the two countries.
In remarks, President Ma first expressed his appreciation to President Pinto da Costa for the invitation to visit Sao Tome and Principe. He said that this trip is enabling him and the members of this delegation at the outset of 2014 to visit Sao Tome and Principe—recently selected by CNN as one of the world's 10 dream destinations for 2014.
President Ma mentioned that cooperative relations were the main focus of discussions between himself and President Pinto da Costa. Besides the malaria eradication project that Dr. Jih-Ching Lien (連日清) carried out from 2003 to 2006, and which has successfully reduced the prevalence of malaria in Sao Tome and Principe to under 4%, the two nations also have cooperation projects in the areas of agriculture and livestock, infrastructure, energy, information technology, and education & culture, the president said.
In the evening, President Ma attended a state banquet hosted by President Pinto da Costa at the National Assembly building. President Ma started off his remarks by greeting all of the guests in Portuguese. He added that as his flight was descending into Sao Tome and Principe he saw the beauty of the nation's scenery, which he likened to an emerald. He noted that Sao Tome and Principe is often referred to as the Ilha Maravilhosa, which is much like the name Ilha Formosa that was given to Taiwan in the 17th century.
President Ma noted that President Pinto da Costa led his nation's independence movement, and served as its first president after Portuguese colonial rule ended in 1975. His work in recent years has helped create infrastructure throughout his nation, President Ma said. Three years ago President Pinto da Costa won his nation's presidential election by a landslide, which demonstrates the enduring esteem which the people of Sao Tome and Principe have for their leader. President Ma expressed confidence that President Pinto da Costa's wise leadership will bring great advances for Sao Tome and Principe in the future.
President Ma mentioned that this year marks the 17th year of diplomatic relations between the two countries, which have engaged in broad cooperation in agriculture, information, malaria eradication, health and medicine, human resource training, and energy. In the past several years, he said, bilateral cooperation has been expanded to cover education and cultural ties. For instance, nearly 50 students from Sao Tome and Principe are studying in Taiwan, and 11 students from there have already completed their studies in Taiwan and returned home, where they are putting the knowledge that they have gained to work.
As for ties between the private sectors of the two nations, President Ma stated, the ROC has held three fairs in Sao Tome and Principe to display outstanding products from Taiwan in the fields of information technology and culture & creativity. In addition, he pointed out, Sao Tome and Principe's tourism industry each year sends a delegation to Taiwan to take part in the Taipei International Travel Fair. These activities are conducive to cooperation and interaction between the private sectors of the two countries, he said.
Lastly, President Ma invited everyone on hand to raise their glasses to toast the two countries. He wished the best for both, and called for a lasting alliance.