President Ma Ying-jeou spent a second day in the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe on January 25 as part of a trip that will also take him to Honduras and Burkina Faso.
In the morning, the president was escorted by Sao Tome and Principe President Manuel Pinto da Costa on a tour of the CACAU arts center. In addition to viewing a selection of works from native artists, the two leaders also drank coffee brewed with beans grown in Sao Tome and Principe, and tasted some locally grown chocolate. President Ma said that Taiwan has one of the highest ratios of coffee drinkers in the world, but that over 90% of coffee beans in Taiwan are imported. Meanwhile, he added, the people of Taiwan also love chocolate. The president said that after this visit to Sao Tome and Principe, he intended to provide the food-related industries with information, which will hopefully create business opportunities for both countries.
Afterwards, President Ma and his delegation made a visit to the country's second state-run high school.
In remarks, the president stated that he was extremely pleased to learn about the 2011 completion of the second state-run high school, which was built with assistance from the ROC and helped to relieve the shortage of school facilities in Sao Tome and Principe.
President Ma stated that the ROC places enormous importance on cooperation with Sao Tome and Principe in the field of education. In addition to the second state-run high school, he said, the ROC has provided assistance in the construction of elementary schools and kindergartens in all of that nation's provinces. President Ma remarked that one day earlier when he and President Pinto da Costa discussed the shortage of school buildings, he had said that the ROC would make every effort to provide assistance, with the hope of enabling more students to further their studies in high school.
President Ma also mentioned that Taiwan's Institute for Information Industry and Sao Tome and Principe's center for information industry promotion cooperated in recent years on a project aimed at reducing the digital divide. The president pointed out that digital opportunity centers had already been established in four of Sao Tome and Principe's districts, and that there were plans to open at least one digital opportunity center in each of seven districts. This project, he said, would help the people of Sao Tome and Principe to learn about computers and information applications, which would enable them to be more in step with the rest of the world in this regard.
After departing the high school, President Ma made a visit to the ROC's malaria prevention advisory mission. Upon arriving, the president was accompanied by Dr. Jih-Ching Lien (連日清) on a tour of the larvae culture chamber and the adult mosquito room to understand the special characteristics of malaria-carrying mosquitos. Afterwards, he listened to a briefing on a malaria prevention project being carried out in Sao Tome and Principe by the ROC and the achievements made. The president said he deeply admires the work.
At noon President Ma returned to his hotel, where he enjoyed a luncheon with members of the media, ROC embassy staff and their families, young men from Taiwan carrying out their military service in Sao Tome and Principe under the alternative service program, volunteers, as well as the crew of the China Airlines aircraft that was serving him and his delegation. The president stated that this was his first visit to Sao Tome and Principe, and while his short itinerary was quite full, his time there had been very fruitful.
President Ma said that he had heard a number of moving stories in the course of visits to some of the cooperation projects between the two countries. For instance, he mentioned, under Dr. Lien's leadership, the ROC's medical mission in Sao Tome and Principe had successfully reduced the prevalence of malaria in that nation to a minimum. In addition, the ROC had donated school buildings to the African country to help address the lack of school facilities for students. Both of these are substantive examples of the ROC acting in the role of "peacemaker" and "provider of humanitarian aid" in the international community, the president remarked.
President Ma also commented that he flew through Russian airspace for the first time on his way to Sao Tome and Principe, and that the aircraft serving him and his delegation stopped in Germany for refueling. This shows that the ROC is no longer viewed as a troublemaker, he said, adding that government will work even harder to pursue peace and provide humanitarian aid, showing a whole new face to the international community.
In speaking about the outlook for relations between the two countries, President Ma emphasized that there are many areas in which the ROC and Sao Tome and Principe can engage in cooperation besides medicine and education. He expressed hope that Taiwan's wisdom and experience can be tapped, along with the efforts of everyone attending the luncheon, to move bilateral relations further forward.
In the afternoon, President Ma visited the Santo Amaro power plant, which Electricity and Water Company of Sao Tome and Principe (EMAE) built with assistance from the ROC. He recognized the contribution of the facility in effectively addressing the longstanding power shortage problem faced by Sao Tome and Principe.
After completing his tour of the plant, President Ma and his entourage made their way back to Sao Tome and Principe's international airport. Their chartered aircraft departed the country at 5:00 p.m.