Office of the President Republic of China(Taiwan)

President Ma Ying-jeou met on the afternoon of October 10 with Republic of Nicaragua National Assembly President Santos Rene Nunez Tellez and Mrs. Nunez. President Ma thanked them for making a special trip to Taiwan for the ROC's Double Tenth National Day, and called for continued deepening of cooperative ties between the two nations.

In remarks, President Ma noted that President Nunez graduated from the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua with a degree in civil engineering. From 1985 to 1990, he served as minister of the President's Office and was also a member of the National Planning Committee. Since 2002, President Nunez has been elected three times to the National Assembly, where he has served as president since being elected to that position in 2007, President Ma said.

President Ma mentioned that several years ago when he visited Nicaragua he had the opportunity to tour a demonstration farm, where he learned that the output of adzuki beans and hogs has risen considerably thanks to cooperation between the ROC technical mission and the government and people of Nicaragua. This has helped Nicaragua take a big step forward towards its goal of self-sufficiency in food output, he said.

Commenting on economic and trade ties, President Ma noted that the ROC-Nicaragua Free Trade Agreement went into effect on January 1, 2008 and since then the volume of trade has increased many times over. Nicaragua's exports to Taiwan in 2007 were valued at about US$15 million, but by 2013 its exports to the ROC had risen 3.4 times to about US$67 million, he said.

The president then addressed efforts by Nicaragua to speak on behalf of the ROC in international venues. He pointed out that the Nicaraguan National Assembly has passed resolutions on many occasions, including in 2011 to celebrate the centenary of the ROC and designate the birthday of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the founding father of the ROC, as Overseas Chinese Day in Nicaragua. The president stated that in May of last year the Nicaraguan legislature also passed a resolution in support of his East China Sea Peace Initiative, and subsequently reiterated its support for Taiwan's participation in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the International Civil Aviation Organization. President Ma again expressed his gratitude to Nicaragua for these moves.

Also in the delegation were President of the ROC-Nicaragua Parliamentary Group of Friendship Jose Santos Figueroa Aguilar and Mrs. Figueroa, and National Assembly members Eduardo Montealegre Rivas and Nasser Sebastian Sylwany Baez.