President Tsai speaks with President-elect Santiago Peña of the Republic of Paraguay
On the morning of May 5, President Tsai Ing-wen spoke with President-elect Santiago Peña of the Republic of Paraguay over a conference call. She offered congratulations on behalf of the people and government of Taiwan to President-elect Peña and said that she looks forward to deepening and broadening the friendship between Taiwan and Paraguay.
President Tsai mentioned that Taiwan-Paraguayan relations and cross-strait issues drew international attention during the recent Paraguayan presidential election. The president thanked President-elect Peña for reiterating his support for the Republic of China (Taiwan) in multiple interviews and for stating his staunch position on maintaining and strengthening diplomatic ties between our countries.
President Tsai noted the closeness of Taiwan-Paraguay relations, saying that during the administration of current Paraguayan President Mario Abdo Benítez, our bilateral cooperation projects saw favorable results. The president expressed hope that we can advance our cooperation in such areas as agricultural technology, public health and medicine, education, and electric vehicles by drawing on our close relations and strong foundations.
President Tsai also mentioned that she had recently visited an electric vehicle company in Taichung, where she saw several young Paraguayan workers who had completed studies in Taiwan and remained here to take on important roles in the industry. She added that she welcomes working with Paraguay on more education projects to strengthen talent exchange and training.
President-elect Peña thanked President Tsai for her congratulatory message and mentioned that he had met the president during her previous visit to Paraguay when he was serving as the Paraguayan Minister of Finance. He also mentioned that he had visited Taiwan 22 years ago for a workshop, noting his early connections to Taiwan. He expressed his hope of visiting Taiwan as soon as possible to meet with President Tsai and said that he looks forward to furthering exchange and cooperation between our countries.
The exchange lasted approximately 20 minutes, with National Security Council Secretary-General Wellington Koo (顧立雄), Foreign Minister Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Tah-ray Yui (俞大㵢), and Deputy Secretary-General to the President Xavier Chang (張惇涵) also sitting in on the call.