On the morning of February 4, President Ma Ying-jeou received credentials from the new Republic of Honduras Ambassador to the ROC, Rafael Fernando Sierra Quesada, at a ceremony held at the Presidential Office. Apart from extending a cordial welcome to Ambassador Sierra on taking up his new position in Taiwan, the president also expressed hope for continued strengthening of bilateral cooperation.
In remarks, President Ma stated that Ambassador Sierra, at 38 years of age, is still relatively young and has a promising future. He previously served in his nation's Ministry of Interior and Justice, and has also held positions at the Honduran embassy in the United States, and the Honduran National Congress and National Commission of Telecommunications. He has a wealth of administrative experience and has long been a trusted member of President Juan Orlando Hernandez's administration. In addition, he previously was invited to visit the ROC in November last year to attend the Taiwan ICT Workshop on Development of Information and Communications Technology held by the TaiwanICDF. Ambassador Sierra thus already has a deep understanding of the ROC's economic and political development, and President Ma is confident that he will be successful in his duties as ambassador.
The president remarked that he has visited Honduras three times, including once in August 2000 in his capacity as Taipei City mayor, and in 2010 and January 2014 in his current capacity to attend the inauguration ceremonies for former President Porfirio Lobo Sosa and current President Hernandez. President Ma also said he admires the democratic evolution taking place in Honduras.
The president then mentioned that President Hernandez began promoting reform immediately upon taking office in January last year, actively working to tackle the crime situation in Honduras, improve that nation's investment environment, and create job opportunities. His efforts have yielded favorable results in a variety of areas. President Ma also pointed to a public opinion poll carried out in October last year by Consulta Mitofsky, a private Mexican consulting firm, on the administrative performance of leaders of Latin American nations. The poll placed President Hernandez in the Top 5, which indicates that the Honduran public and the international community recognize his outstanding leadership abilities.
Commenting on bilateral cooperation projects, President Ma pointed out that diplomatic relations between the ROC and Honduras date back 74 years and the bilateral alliance is extremely stable. The two countries have long maintained a close cooperative relationship, with agreements and related projects covering the spheres of agricultural and fishing technology, power technology, economics and trade, and investment protection. In addition, the president remarked that he met President Hernandez both in January last year in Honduras, and in July when he traveled to Panama to attend the inauguration of that nation's new president, Juan Carlos Varela. During those meetings, Presidents Ma and Hernandez exchanged opinions on cooperation regarding economic and trade, agricultural, and security issues. Related cooperative projects are currently moving forward, President Ma noted, and are conducive to the development of bilateral trade and economic relations.
The president also stated that the ROC government each year provides scholarships to 30 Hondurans to study in Taiwan under the Taiwan Scholarship Program and the TaiwanICDF International Higher Education Scholarship Program. Currently, about 220 Honduran students are studying in universities or graduate schools here. Furthermore, the ROC is actively promoting the International Youth Ambassadors Exchange Program, hoping that interaction in the academic and cultural sectors will enhance understanding and friendship among youth of the two countries.
The president expressed his gratitude to the Honduran government for its strong support over the years in international venues for ROC participation in international organizations including the World Health Organization, the International Civil Aviation Organization, and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. In addition, at the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), Honduras has publicly advocated that the ROC's status in the working group handling amendments to the ICCAT Convention be raised to that of a formal member.
President Ma stated that President Hernandez previously communicated to the ROC Embassy in Honduras his hopes to lead a delegation to Taiwan this year to recruit investment and explain to ROC companies the enormous improvements in the economic situation in Honduras, as well as the improvements in the public safety situation. President Ma emphasized that the ROC is more than willing to cooperate with these efforts, adding that he is confident that a visit to the ROC by President Hernandez will further enhance the bilateral alliance and create even greater wellbeing for the people of the two countries.
Among those witnessing the ceremony were Secretary-General to the President Timothy Chin-Tien Yang (楊進添), Minister of Foreign Affairs David Y. L. Lin (林永樂), and Director-General of the Third Bureau of the Office of the President, Fen-Fen Chang (張芬芬).