Taiwan signed a free-trade agreement (FTA) with Guatemala Thursday in a bid to strengthen bilateral relations with the Central American country and expand the global market for Taiwanese products.
President Chen Shui-bian (
The agreement is expected to help balance Guatemala's trade deficit with Taiwan. Last year, Guatemala imported Taiwanese products costing US$170 million but only exported products costing US$4 million to Taiwan.
PHOTO: CNA
Based on the agreement, Taiwan will provide for tariff-free trade on agricultural products including coffee. In addition, Guatemala will be allowed to export 60,000 tonnes of sugar to Taiwan, which consumes only 150,000 tonnes of sugar per year.
"We hope to export more products to Taiwan and import Taiwan's textile fabrics, bicycles and other products to Guatemala," Berger said.
Chen said that Taiwan will become an important gateway through which Guatemala can export its products to Asia.
"Taiwan's familiarity in the market in Asia will help Guatemala broaden its market in the region," Chen said.
In early August, six of Taiwan's diplomatic allies in Central America and the Caribbean (Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic) signed a free-trade agreement with the US. The Central American-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement provides for tariff-free trade between the countries.
Combined with that agreement, Taiwan's new FTA with Guatemala may help Taiwanese products gain indirect tariff-free market access to the US.
"Taiwan can export its products to Guatemala first. After being processed, they can be further sold to the US," Minister of Economic Affairs Ho Mei-yueh (
Together with the FTA, two other agreements involving sea transportation and air freight were also signed by both sides Thursday. According to Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Ling-san (
In an interview with the Guatemalan newspaper Siglo Veintiuno, President Chen yesterday reiterated Taiwan's resolution to assist in Guatemala's development.
For example, Chen said, US$17 million will be given to broaden part of CA-9 Highway that connects Guatemala City and El Rancho. Also, a special project has been proposed that would provide US$250 million in assistance to Taiwanese investing in the nation's diplomatic allies in Central America.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique