President Ma Ying-jeou met on the morning of August 24 with Victor Alcides Bogado Gonzalez, president of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Republic of Paraguay's Senate. In addition to extending a warm welcome to the delegation led by Senator Bogado, the president also hopes for even greater depth of interaction and cooperation between the two nations.
In remarks, the president stated that this is the sixth time he has met with Senator Bogado, with the previous four meetings held when Mr. Bogado served as president of the Paraguayan Chamber of Deputies. The most recent two visits, including one last year, occurred after Mr. Bogado became a senator. Last year he visited in his capacity as the chairman of the Senate's ROC Friendship Committee, and this time as president of the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee. This is testament to his strong friendship to the ROC, and his frequent visits have a positive impact in strengthening bilateral relations, the president said.
Discussing bilateral interaction, President Ma commented that he led a delegation to Paraguay in August 2013 to attend the inauguration of President Horacio Cartes. During his stay in Paraguay, he was invited to visit the Universidad Nacional de Asuncion, where he received an honorary doctorate degree. The president said that he will never forget the beauty of Paraguay’s rich culture and the warmth of its people.
President Ma also mentioned that President Cartes led a delegation to the ROC on a state visit in October of last year during the ROC's Double Tenth National Day celebration. Paraguayan Minister of Defense Bernardino Soto Estigarribia and Minister of Interior Francisco Jose de Vargas Benitez also visited the ROC in May and June, respectively. The diplomatic relationship between the two nations spans 58 years, and while Paraguay is farther away than any of the ROC's other diplomatic allies, the frequency of visits by high-level officials of the two nations has increased more over the past two years than it has for many nations that are geographically closer to the ROC. This highlights the friendship between the two countries and the enduring alliance.
The president further remarked that in each of the past four years, Paraguay's Chamber of Deputies has passed resolutions urging the executive branch to support Taiwan's participation in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the International Civil Aviation Organization. Its Senate, meanwhile, passed likeminded statements in both of the last two years, he said. Representatives of Paraguay in 2013 and 2014 also spoke on behalf of the ROC at the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in favor of the ROC's participation in international organizations. In addition, at the World Health Assembly in both 2014 and 2015, Paraguay's minister of health urged the international community to support the ROC's participation in related activities. President Ma expressed his deepest gratitude to Paraguay for its longstanding support and for speaking up in favor of meaningful participation by the ROC in the international community and international organizations.
The two nations have also engaged in cooperation projects to enhance the livelihood and wellbeing of the public. Last year when Paraguay suffered serious flooding, the ROC immediately donated US$100,000 in humanitarian assistance to assist that nation in erecting temporary shelters. In November of last year the ROC also provided US$100,000 to help Paraguay procure the medicines needed to aid the disaster victims. In 2013, President Cartes introduced the National Program of Poverty Reduction, and the ROC responded by jointly promoting a project to build 4,500 homes in 39 communities throughout 16 Paraguayan provinces. This project will provide 22,500 direct and 45,000 indirect jobs, and by last year the construction of 1,226 homes had already been completed, the president said.
President Ma noted that the ROC plans to implement a project starting next year that will boost the management efficiency of medical information in Paraguay, and assist them in establishing electronic medical records, improving hospital management, and reducing the waiting time for patients to see doctors and obtain medicines. This program will also assist Paraguay in bolstering the quality of telemedicine.