President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday thanked Guatemala and the US for their support of Taiwan and said he looked forward to seeing enhanced trilateral trade ties.
In a social media post, Lai thanked Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio for "expressing firm support for the relationship shared by Taiwan, Guatemala and the US."
"Our continued joint efforts to bolster trade and investment pave the way for greater prosperity and stronger economic ties," Lai said.
Photo: Taipei Times
The comments came shortly after Rubio visited the Central American nation and met with Arévalo.
In response to a reporter's question on Wednesday, Arévalo, who assumed the role of Guatemalan president in January last year, reaffirmed his administration's commitment to maintain diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
"We maintain our diplomatic relationship with Taiwan and we hope to be able to ... further develop it in terms of economics and investment," the Guatemalan leader said at a joint news conference with Rubio following their meeting.
Guatemala is one of 12 countries maintaining formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan.
Meanwhile, Rubio said the US was dedicated to helping expand bilateral ties between Taiwan and Guatemala "beyond just the diplomatic realm to an economic one."
"We'll do all we can to facilitate more Taiwanese investment in the economy of Guatemala so that it can continue to grow into the advanced, prosperous [and] 21st-century economy," he added.
Rubio's visit to Guatemala is part of his first Latin American tour after he became the secretary of state on Jan. 25.
The tour from Feb. 1 to yesterday also included stops in Panama, El Salvador, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic.
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