Premier highlights local fruits to promote international cooperation at meeting with ambassadors

Premier Su Tseng-chang on Tuesday afternoon at the Executive Yuan met with 12 ambassadors of countries in which Taiwan has stationed technical missions. In the run-up to the Chinese Lunar New Year, the group shared agricultural development experiences of Taiwan and friendly and allied nations. In addition, a wide range of seasonal fruit grown in Taiwan was provided at the gathering to further exhibit the accomplishments Taiwan has made in terms of farm products.

In remarks to the ambassadors, Su said that Taiwan's agricultural development has taken place over a long period of time. In its earliest stage, the island sought stable output of staple foods to enable it to be self-sufficient in staple foods. He said that period was the most difficult in terms of agricultural development. However, Taiwan is blessed with good weather and fertile soil, he said. Thanks to the efforts of the government and the people, Taiwan was able to quite rapidly achieve self-sufficiency in food. In the following years, efforts were made to gradually diversify the fruits and vegetables that were grown here. Some of this produce was exported in order to earn foreign exchange. In recent years, efforts have been made to further improve the quality of fruits grown here, giving them even higher value. Coupled with refined packaged, the fruit has become easy to sell, and farmers are able to earn even more money. In addition to enabling the people of Taiwan to enjoy even higher quality agricultural products, the development of agriculture has helped to improve the lives of farmers.

Su furthermore said that as a member of the global village, Taiwan has been more than willing to share its experiences with friendly and allied nations. He noted that it was back in 1959 that Taiwan first sent an agricultural team overseas, marking the beginning of international agricultural technical assistance and cooperation. Since then, Taiwan has been involved in promoting agricultural development in friendly nations. He said that Taiwan presently has technical missions stationed in 29 countries throughout the world. Altogether, 34 agricultural and medical missions are working together with the people in those countries. They have chalked up any number of achievements, he said, adding that the agricultural missions have effectively assisted in the agricultural development of those friendly nations.

Su said that he believes the ambassadors attending the event can sense that Taiwan is a friendly country with friendly people. He said that "good things should be shared with good friends." The premier added that in 11 days, Taiwan will celebrate the Lunar New Year. According to custom, it is at this time of the year that people should give gifts to their good friends and invite their good friends over for a visit. As a result, he decided to invite the ambassadors to the Executive Yuan on Tuesday and present them a gift. A sampling of Taiwan's best seasonal fruit was provided to each of the ambassadors. Su also introduced the various fruits to what he described as Taiwan's best friends. Su said that in most countries throughout the world it is very rare to be able to enjoy such a wide sampling of a diverse array of top quality fruit at one time. This is possible, however, in Taiwan. He said that he wanted all of the ambassadors on hand to have the experience of tasting the fruit and understanding the common saying here, "After eating something sweet, the words coming out of one's mouth will be especially sweet."

Su said that after sampling such wonderful fruit, the ambassadors should pass the word back to their countries about their experience in Taiwan, further enabling countries throughout the globe to better understand the friendliness and goodwill of the Taiwanese people.

The Burkina Faso ambassador to the ROC (Taiwan), Jacques Sawadogo, expressed his gratitude to Su on behalf of all of the ambassadors invited, saying that they are delighted to have the opportunity to participate in the event. Sawadogo said that while he and the other ambassadors invited to the gathering are not agricultural experts, they are certainly able to see that Taiwan has become a successful model in agricultural development. He added that Taiwan has developed a wide variety of agricultural and farming technology, and that this has only been accomplished through a comprehensive training system of experts in the field along with top-notch technology. Sawadogo expressed his sincere gratitude for Taiwan's willingness to spare no effort in sharing its agricultural development experiences with its friends.

Sawadogo added that Taiwan's agricultural missions work diligently in some of the harshest conditions. He said that the sacrifices of technicians in the missions have not only helped bolster the economic development in friendly nations, but has also contributed to the well-being of the people of those countries. He once again expressed his warmest appreciation to Premier Su, the ROC (Taiwan) government and the people of Taiwan for providing assistance to his and other countries in the area of agricultural development. Sawadogo also used Chinese to wish the participants at the gathering a Happy New Year.

In addition to Sawadogo, the 12 ambassadors present at the gathering on Tuesday included Marshall Islands Ambassador Alexander Carter Bing, Solomon Islands Ambassador Beraki Jino, Paraguay Ambassador Ramon Antero Diaz Pereira, Panama Ambassador Julio Mock Cardenas, Guatemala Ambassador Jorge Ricardo Putzeys Uriguen, Nicaragua Ambassador Juan Marcos Garcia Borgen, The Gambia Ambassador Mawdo C. Juwara, Nauru Ambassador Ludwig D. Keke, Belize Ambassador Gaspar R. Ken, Palau Ambassador Johnson Toribiong, and Indonesian Economic and Trade Office to Taipei Representative Ferry Yahya.

The Executive Yuan's Council of Agriculture specially displayed samplings of top quality seasonal fruit and also provided gifts of fruit to the guests attending the event. Su personally provided explanations of each fruit to the ambassadors. The fruits on display included the sugar apples, wax apples, strawberries, tangerines, jujubes, grapes, star fruit, bananas, papayas, guavas, little tomatoes, and Asian pears. After sampling the fruits, many of the guests raised their thumbs, saying it was fabulous.

Accompanying Su to the event was Foreign Minister James C.F. Huang, Council of Agriculture Minister Su Jia-chyuan and Government Information Office Minister Cheng Wen-tsang.