By Joseph Yeh
TAIPEI, Taiwan, (CNA) – Taiwan and the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) signed an agreement Thursday to form a new trust fund, with Taiwan; promising to provide CABEI with US$1 million annually over a period of five years for technical assistance, training and advisory services, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA).
The Taiwan-CABEI Partnership Trust Fund will provide resources to enable the preparation and implementation of projects in sectors that can benefit from Taiwan’s experience. Such projects will also be aligned with CABEI’s objective of regional integration and socio-economic development in Central America, according to separate press releases issued by MOFA and the CABEI.
The agreement was formalized in a virtual ceremony attended by CABEI executive president Dante Mossi and Taiwan’s minister of foreign affairs, Joseph Wu (吳釗燮).
Mossi was quoted in the press release as saying Taiwan has been a non-regional member country of CABEI for almost 30 years.
“With the Taiwan-CABEI Partnership Trust Fund, we celebrate a new milestone that will benefit the Central American region,” he said.
Meanwhile, Wu said in his address that the fund will help regional countries to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and boost their economies. Taiwan will continue to work closely with CABEI to solidify partnerships in the region and to share its experience and expertise, he added.
Founded in 1960 by Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica, CABEI is an international multilateral development financial institution that offers resources to projects that foster regional development, reduce poverty and inequality, and strengthen regional integration.
Among the five founding members, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua are diplomatic allies of Taiwan; became a non-regional member country of CABEI in 1992.
CABEI opened a representative office in Taiwan located in the Taipei 101 building earlier this year.
