Tsai promises to strengthen agricultural cooperation with Honduras

Asuncion, Paraguay, Aug. 15 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen (???) held talks with Honduran Vice President Olga Alvarado Wednesday, in which Tsai promised to further promote agricultural cooperation between the two countries.

Tsai met Alvarado for nearly an hour after attending the inauguration of Paraguayan President Mario Abdo Benitez earlier in the day.

The two focused their talks on future agricultural cooperation, with coffee and avocados high on their agenda, said Tsai Ming-yen (???), deputy secretary-general of Taiwan's National Security Council (NSC), who was also present at the meeting.

According to Tsai Ming-yen, the president told Alvarado that Taiwan will assist Honduras in further developing its avocado cultivation and distribution, from seedlings and production to marketing and online promotion.

In the short term, sales of Honduran avocados will focus on the local market and neighboring countries, with Taiwan projected to serve as a prime distribution hub for the Honduran fruit in Asia over the long term, the president was quoted as saying.

In terms of coffee, the president told Alvarado that she will ask the state-run Taiwan Sugar Corp. to help Honduran small scale coffee farmers establish their own brands and that Taiwan will continue to purchase coffee grown by Honduran farmers, as it has been doing since last year, Tsai Ming-yen said.

He said that President Tsai expressed hope that the economy of Honduras will soon improve and that Taiwan-Honduras relations will become more stable and mutually beneficial.

For her part, Alvarado said she is keen to learn from President Tsai, who she praised as a role model for female political figures, which are a rarity in Latin American, Tsai Ming-yen noted.

Later Wednesday, Tsai was scheduled to head to Belize for a three-day visit, during which she will be decorated by Governor- General Colville Young and meet with Prime Minister Dean Barrow.

She is scheduled to return to Taiwan Aug. 20 after concluding her nine-day visit to Paraguay and Belize -- her fifth overseas trip since becoming president in May 2016.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel