President Tsai arrives in El Salvador
President Tsai Ing-wen and her accompanying delegation, who are currently in Central America on a trip codenamed the "Ing-Jie Project," arrived in El Salvador at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, January 12 local time (6:30 a.m. on January 13 Taipei time).
After the chartered plane came to a halt on the tarmac, ROC Ambassador to El Salvador Florencia Miao-hung Hsie (謝妙宏) and the Salvadoran head of protocol boarded the aircraft to welcome President Tsai. Salvadoran Foreign Minister Hugo Martinez welcomed President Tsai at the foot of the airstair, and then accompanied her in accepting a red-carpet military honor guard salute.
In remarks, President Tsai said she was extremely honored to have been invited by Salvadoran President Salvador Sanchez Ceren to lead a delegation to his country, and noted that this was her last stop in Central America. On behalf of Taiwan, President Tsai conveyed warm greetings to the government of El Salvador and the people of this beautiful land.
President Tsai stated that El Salvador is an important friend of Taiwan. We have a firm friendship and engage in frequent visits and exchanges, said the president, who expressed hope that she could take advantage of this visit to carry out an in-depth exchange of views with President Sanchez on matters of shared concern.
President Tsai mentioned that important Taiwanese business leaders had been invited to join her delegation with the hope of finding new opportunities for industrial and business cooperation. She also mentioned that she and her delegation would visit the General Secretariat of the Central American Integration System (SICA), which is located in El Salvador, to learn about successes achieved through cooperation between Taiwan and SICA.
President Tsai stated that she and her delegation had come to El Salvador with the idea of pursuing mutual assistance for mutual benefits. She hoped Taiwan and El Salvador could build on an already stable foundation by continuing to develop a variety of cooperation projects that strengthen economies, livelihoods and cultural exchanges, and thereby improve the well-being of people in both countries. "Cooperation, cooperation, cooperation... that is why we've come here," said the president.
President Tsai concluded her remarks by thanking Foreign Minister Martinez and a group of Salvadoran students from the local ROC elementary school for coming out to greet her at the airport.
After the conclusion of her remarks, President Tsai proceeded to her hotel—the Hotel Sheraton Presidente—where she received an enthusiastic welcome from representatives of the Taiwanese expatriate community and was given flowers by expat beauty queen Sauway Shi.