I am very pleased to be here today with all of you to attend the donation and handover ceremony for the National Hospital of Chimaltenango. I would like to invite everyone to take a look at the hospital and to witness this wonderful flagship project that was completed under the joint efforts of Taiwan and Guatemala.
This new large-scale hospital, built from the ground up, is no small feat. For the past 18 months, workers have been busy grading the land, driving piles, firing bricks and tiles, and addressing a multitude of other tasks. And now, they have completed a hospital providing 15 departments and 340 beds. The amount of work involved was enormous, but it is now completed, thanks to the contributions of many very dedicated people.
I want to thank the Guatemalan government under the leadership of President [Alejandro Eduardo] Giammattei [Falla], as well as the staff who came from Taiwan to assist in the process. Congratulations on a difficult job well done.
This has been a very significant construction project. While using local construction materials and labor, the project also took advantage of Taiwan's experience and technology. And throughout the process, it spurred economic development in the nearby area and created many job opportunities.
Now, the National Hospital of Chimaltenango will provide high-quality medical services to 720,000 local residents as well as the more than 2 million people living in the surrounding five departments of Guatemala.
The pandemic of the past few years has underlined the importance of medical care and public health systems in countries all over the world. So we feel quite certain that once this hospital opens its doors, it will be paramount in protecting the health of the people of Guatemala.
In the future, Taiwan and Guatemala will continue to support each other and deepen our cooperation in a wide range of areas. We will continue to work with Guatemala in line with the principles of steadfast diplomacy and mutual assistance for mutual benefits, and support the long-term, substantive development of our diplomatic partner, as we also cooperate with our democratic partners in the international community.