Taiwan’s International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF) on Friday signed two loan contracts totaling US$130 million with the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) to help local entities recover from the COVID-19 crisis in the largest-ever deal between the two sides.
The contracts, which were exchanged by mail due to travel restrictions, were signed by ICDF Secretary-General Timothy Hsiang (項恬毅) and CABEI Executive President Dante Mossi.
Mossi on Friday hosted a signing ceremony at the bank’s headquarters in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, witnessed by Taiwan’s Ambassador to Honduras Ingrid Hsing (邢瀛輝) and CABEI board director for Taiwan Chiu Wei-sheng (邱偉勝), the ICDF said yesterday in a news release.
The first contract, covering US$50 million, would allow CABEI to finance public-sector efforts to build or renovate shelters, clinics and hospitals, as well as fund equipment and medical supplies to curb the spread of COVID-19 in Central America, the bank said in a statement.
The second contract of US$80 million would allow CABEI to finance micro, small and medium-sized enterprises affected by the crisis, it added.
“I want to highlight and thank the support that the Republic of China, Taiwan, has provided during the international health emergency. Our countries have their unconditional support to face and strengthen actions that allow containing the virus and promoting economic reactivation. Their actions have been exemplary,” Mossi said.
It is the largest-ever loan between the ICDF and CABEI, marking a new milestone for bilateral ties, Hsiang said.
Taiwan is a CABEI member country and has close ties to Central America, as it has observer status at the Central American Integration System, the ICDF said.
Its participation in CABEI’s aid campaign would boost the reciprocal relations between Taiwan and the region, while boosting Taiwan’s influence in Central America, it said.
CABEI members include the founding states Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica; regional non-founding members Panama, the Dominican Republic and Belize; and non-regional members Taiwan, Argentina, Colombia, Cuba Mexico, Spain and South Korea.
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