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Ma signs Guatemalan communique with Colom

Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom, left, and President Ma Ying-jeou sign a joint statement at the Presidential Office yesterday. PHOTO: CNA

Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom ended his visit to Taiwan yesterday with the two countries pledging to strengthen diplomatic ties and Taiwan offering more aid to Guatemala.

At the end of his five-day visit, Colom yesterday held talks with President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and signed a joint communique in which the two leaders pledged to strengthen the seven decades of friendly ties and boost cooperation in all fields.

The statement recounted the cooperation projects agreed upon by both sides, but did not mention the cost of the projects or the amount of new aid.

Taiwan agreed to fund the third-phase expansion of the CA-09 Highway and to conduct a feasibility study on widening another section of the highway’s northern section.

“The expansion of this section can boost trade and transportation and make it easier for tourists to travel to north and northeast Guatemala,” the statement said.

Taiwan pledged to continue to help upgrade the Guatemalan law enforcement and jail system by helping Guatemala develop a fingerprint identification system and building a prison.

The two presidents also stressed the importance of implementing the Guatemala Rural Development Plan, which covers food safety, ending poverty, building houses, training for rural women and rural healthcare.

Colom showed Ma a short film introducing a 22km2 historical relics preservation zone being developed by Guatemala.

After the film, Ma said the Mayan culture was the precious heritage of human civilization and its preservation was the responsibility of both Guatemala and the world.
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