Officials from Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) confirmed the upcoming visit of Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso after the presidential election this month.
Moscoso's scheduled trip follows the opening of the first Taiwan-sponsored cooperative farms there last month.
"President Moscoso has long expressed her wish to visit Taiwan and it is almost certain that she will be here at the end of March or beginning of April," said David Hu (
Moscoso was to visit Taiwan shortly after her electoral victory in May last year, but the trip was delayed twice due to Cabinet appointments and other political problems.
The visit by the then vice president-elect Arturo Vallarino to China last August sparked a wave of speculation that the new administration was on the verge of severing diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
During his visit to Panama last November, Taiwan's former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jason Hu (
The Panamanian president had promised to improve the livelihoods of Panama's impoverished farmers -- which make up the core of her constituency -- by setting up 3,000 farms within five years.
Taiwan also offered to provide technical knowledge concerning the implementation of agriculture reforms.
The first of these farms was opened in the mountainous region of Herrera, a province in northeastern Panama.
The three hectares of land will be tended by 144 people from 24 families, according to reports.
David Hu also said that there have been no visible signs that Beijing is leveraging on its commercial interest in the Panama Canal to interfere with Panama-Taiwan ties.
With the handover of the canal to Panama last December, conservative elements in US Congress railed against the possibility of Chinese influence over the waterway through Hutchinson Whampoa, Ltd.
The Hong Kong-based multinational won the concession in 1997 to run ports strategically located at either end of the canal.
"We have no information indicating that Beijing is using the company to damage [Taiwan's] bilateral ties with Panama," he said.
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