Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei on Sunday thanked Taiwan for its assistance in building and funding the Chimaltenango National Hospital.
Taiwan donated US$22 million for the construction of the 340-bed hospital, which has 15 departments and was completed in February after 18 months of construction.
Taiwan’s and Guatemala’s national flags, as well as President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) and Giammattei’s names, are engraved in a commemorative plaque at the hospital’s entrance.
Photo: AFP / Guatemalan President’s Office
At at a handover ceremony on the last day of Tsai’s trip to the Central American ally, she presented Giammattei with a model of the hospital and a set of commemorative coins from the Ministry of National Defense.
Tsai’s delegation and other guests then toured the hospital’s neonatal care center.
She praised “the contributions of many very dedicated people,” including the Guatemalan government and Taiwanese staff who assisted in the process.
The “wonderful flagship project” took advantage of local construction materials and labor, as well as Taiwan’s experience and technology, she said.
The project spurred economic development in the area and created many job opportunities throughout the construction process amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which highlighted the importance of medical care and public health systems in countries all over the world, she said.
The facility provides high-quality medical services to 720,000 local residents and more than 2 million people in the surrounding five departments of Guatemala, she said.
Taiwan and Guatemala would continue to deepen cooperation in a wide range of areas “in line with the principles of steadfast diplomacy and mutual assistance for mutual benefit,” Tsai said.
The hospital “best represents Taiwan-Guatemala cooperation,” Giammattei said, describing it as “an engineering feat” that can “provide invaluable medical resources and care to the community.”
He thanked Taiwan for its generosity in providing the blueprint for the hospital, which can be used to construct other medical facilities.
“There is no more important or worthy mission than that of improving the quality of the people’s lives,” he said.
The Guatemalan government is committed to supporting the sovereignty of Taiwan, he added.
He wished the delegation a smooth and productive visit to Belize, the next stop on their itinerary.
Giammattei also gave Tsai his best wishes.
“You took a piece of the Guatemalan people’s heart away with your departure,” he said. “Please take good care of it and protect it. At the same time, your visit this time also left a piece of your heart in Guatemala, which will be protected and guarded here.”
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to