Taiwan and Guatemala have initiated a vocational training program for engineering talent to facilitate a bid by the Central American nation to develop a semiconductor industry.
Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo has expressed interest in deepening bilateral economic cooperation in technology, Ambassador to Guatemala Chang Chun-fei (張俊菲) said in Guatemala City on Wednesday.
Starting on Thursday next week, a class of 28 top Guatemalan students and researchers would undergo three weeks of intensive training at Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區) and National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University’s Innovation Incubation Center in Taipei, Chang said.
Photo: CNA
The class would visit the manufacturing facilities of members of the Taiwan Printed Circuit Association, she said.
The trainees would become seedling instructors in a planned Guatemala-run education program to train talent and build a domestic chipmaking industry, she said.
The joint venture is part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ efforts to boost the economies of diplomatic allies by leveraging Taiwan’s technological advantages, she said.
The Arevalo administration is conducting a nationwide strategy to attract foreign investors in key industries to bolster the nation’s ability to compete in the global economy, Guatemalan Minister of Economy Gabriela Garcia-Quinn said.
Guatemala aims to become a member of the international semiconductor manufacturing sector, which brings innovation, technology and good jobs, Garcia-Quinn said.
She thanked Taiwan for sharing technology and experience that Guatemala needs to integrate into the global value chain.
The exchange program is evidence of Taiwan’s crucial role as a strategic partner to Guatemala in its quest to build a modern economy, Guatemalan Minister of Foreign Affairs Carlos Ramiro Martinez said.
Carlos Esquit, who heads the electronic engineering department at the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, said the program would enable the participants to develop a sense for the chipmaking industry.
The ties between the two nation’s public and private sectors that the program would facilitate would help to establish a model for bilateral economic cooperation, Esquit added.
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