Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli yesterday called on the Taiwanese government to grant visa-free status to Panamanian citizens in return for the measures his government has put in place for Taiwanese tourists.
Currently, Taiwanese citizens who visit Panama need only obtain a tourist card at the airport to enter the country for a period of 30 days, extendable to 90 days.
Addressing a forum in Taipei to promote trade and investment opportunities in Panama, Martinelli said he very much hoped that Taiwan would grant visa--exemption privileges to Panamanians.
The first Panamanian leader to visit in six years, Martinelli yesterday wrapped up his three-day state visit, the last stop of a three-nation Asia tour that also took him to Singapore and South Korea to boost economic ties.
Martinelli said he had suggested that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and his officials should provide tax incentives for Taiwanese businesses to encourage them to consider Panama as a base for their investments.
“Panama is a country full of business opportunities and its strategic geographical location makes it a world-class multi-modal transportation hub, and we have supported Taiwan without reservation,” he said.
Martinelli invited Taiwanese to participate in his country’s expansion plans for the Panama Canal, two mass rapid transit systems, three international airports, eight hospitals, and hundreds of public infrastructure projects.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs said that investments from Panama totaled U$830 million, while Taiwanese investment in Panama stood at US$1.3 billion.
In the joint communique signed by Ma and Martinelli on Friday, the two countries agreed to first work on a waiver of visa requirements for officials holding service passports and diplomatic passports.
Tropical Storm Nari is not a threat to Taiwan, based on its positioning and trajectory, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Nari has strengthened from a tropical depression that was positioned south of Japan, it said. The eye of the storm is about 2,100km east of Taipei, with a north-northeast trajectory moving toward the eastern seaboard of Japan, CWA data showed. Based on its current path, the storm would not affect Taiwan, the agency said.
The Taipei Department of Health’s latest inspection of fresh fruit and vegetables sold in local markets revealed a 25 percent failure rate, with most contraventions involving excessive pesticide residues, while two durians were also found to contain heavy metal cadmium at levels exceeding safety limits. Health Food and Drug Division Director Lin Kuan-chen (林冠蓁) yesterday said the agency routinely conducts inspections of fresh produce sold at traditional markets, supermarkets, hypermarkets, retail outlets and restaurants, testing for pesticide residues and other harmful substances. In its most recent inspection, conducted in May, the department randomly collected 52 samples from various locations, with testing showing
Taipei and other northern cities are to host air-raid drills from 1:30pm to 2pm tomorrow as part of urban resilience drills held alongside the Han Kuang exercises, Taiwan’s largest annual military exercises. Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung, Taoyuan, Yilan County, Hsinchu City and Hsinchu County are to hold the annual Wanan air defense exercise tomorrow, following similar drills held in central and southern Taiwan yesterday and today respectively. The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and Maokong Gondola are to run as usual, although stations and passenger parking lots would have an “entry only, no exit” policy once air raid sirens sound, Taipei
Taiwan is bracing for a political shake-up as a majority of directly elected lawmakers from the main opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) face the prospect of early removal from office in an unprecedented wave of recall votes slated for July 26 and Aug. 23. The outcome of the public votes targeting 26 KMT lawmakers in the next two months — and potentially five more at later dates — could upend the power structure in the legislature, where the KMT and the smaller Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) currently hold a combined majority. After denying direct involvement in the recall campaigns for months, the
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