The Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) is to open a regional office in Taiwan, the first in the nation by an international development financial institution, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.
The agreement to establish the office was signed by Minister of Finance Su Jain-rong (蘇建榮) and CABEI executive president Dante Mossi during a virtual meeting, the ministry said.
The office, which is to open in June, would be the first of the development bank’s in Asia, Deputy Minister of Finance Juan Ching-hwa (阮清華) told a news conference in Taipei.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
CABEI is headquartered in Honduras and has regional offices in seven other Central American countries. The institution has 15 member states — including Taiwan, which holds an 11.09 percent stake in the bank, the highest among the seven non-regional members, the ministry said.
Taiwan joined CABEI in 1992 as “Republic of China (Taiwan).”
The opening is proof of Taiwan’s critical international presence, Juan said.
Founded in 1960, CABEI’s main objective is to “promote the economic integration and the balanced economic and social development of the Central American region,” the bank’s Web site said.
CABEI’s regional offices focus mainly on debt management and providing member states with financing for infrastructure projects, Juan said.
However, the Taipei office would mainly be tasked with establishing ties with Taiwan’s capital market, he said.
The office would help Taiwan boost its capital market and build closer links with Central America, he said.
Cooperation facilitated by the office would allow Taiwan to participate in the political and social development of the region, and raise its international visibility, Juan said.
Taiwan is the bank’s largest creditor in Asia, with a credit volume of US$2.65 billion, ahead of Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand and Singapore, he said.
Taiwan is temporarily represented by Su and central bank Deputy Governor Chen Nan-kuang (陳南光) in CABEI’s board of governors.
Taiwan would likely be granted a permanent seat in the future, the ministry said.
LIMITS: While China increases military pressure on Taiwan and expands its use of cognitive warfare, it is unwilling to target tech supply chains, the report said US and Taiwan military officials have warned that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could implement a blockade within “a matter of hours” and need only “minimal conversion time” prior to an attack on Taiwan, a report released on Tuesday by the US Senate’s China Economic and Security Review Commission said. “While there is no indication that China is planning an imminent attack, the United States and its allies and partners can no longer assume that a Taiwan contingency is a distant possibility for which they would have ample time to prepare,” it said. The commission made the comments in its annual
DETERMINATION: Beijing’s actions toward Tokyo have drawn international attention, but would likely bolster regional coordination and defense networks, the report said Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s administration is likely to prioritize security reforms and deterrence in the face of recent “hybrid” threats from China, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said. The bureau made the assessment in a written report to the Legislative Yuan ahead of an oral report and questions-and-answers session at the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The key points of Japan’s security reforms would be to reinforce security cooperation with the US, including enhancing defense deployment in the first island chain, pushing forward the integrated command and operations of the Japan Self-Defense Forces and US Forces Japan, as
IN THE NATIONAL INTEREST: Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu said the strengthening of military facilities would help to maintain security in the Taiwan Strait Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi, visiting a military base close to Taiwan, said plans to deploy missiles to the post would move forward as tensions smolder between Tokyo and Beijing. “The deployment can help lower the chance of an armed attack on our country,” Koizumi told reporters on Sunday as he wrapped up his first trip to the base on the southern Japanese island of Yonaguni. “The view that it will heighten regional tensions is not accurate.” Former Japanese minister of defense Gen Nakatani in January said that Tokyo wanted to base Type 03 Chu-SAM missiles on Yonaguni, but little progress
NO CHANGES: A Japanese spokesperson said that Tokyo remains consistent and open for dialogue, while Beijing has canceled diplomatic engagements A Japanese official blasted China’s claims that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has altered Japan’s position on a Taiwan crisis as “entirely baseless,” calling for more dialogue to stop ties between Asia’s top economies from spiraling. China vowed to take resolute self-defense against Japan if it “dared to intervene militarily in the Taiwan Strait” in a letter delivered Friday to the UN. “I’m aware of this letter,” said Maki Kobayashi, a senior Japanese government spokeswoman. “The claim our country has altered its position is entirely baseless,” she said on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Johannesburg on Saturday. The Chinese Ministry
RSS