Tegucigalpa, November 17, 2021.- On Wednesday, the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) and the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan) signed an agreement to make US$5.0 million in non-reimbursable funds available to the region over a five-year period.

The new trust fund will provide $1.0 million annually for technical assistance, training, and advisory services to CABEI. The resources will enable the preparation and implementation of projects in sectors that can benefit from Taiwan´s experience and that are aligned with CABEI´s objective of regional integration and socioeconomic development in Central America.

"The Republic of China (Taiwan) has been our non-regional member country for almost three decades. In July we solidified our partnership and expanded our presence in Asia with the inauguration of our office in Taipei. With the Taiwan-CABEI Partnership Trust Fund, we celebrate a new milestone that will benefit the Central American region,” expressed CABEI Executive President, Dr. Dante Mossi.

The technical assistance will be implemented through feasibility studies, reports, conferences, workshops, seminars, as well as research, scientific development and analytical work in the Bank's member countries. The benefited sectors include green energy, public health, sustainable agriculture, information and communication technologies (ICT), trade and others such as the private sector and those agreed upon by Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Bank.

The agreement was formalized in a virtual ceremony attended by CABEI Executive President Dr. Dante Mossi; the Republic of China (Taiwan) Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Jaushieh Joseph Wu; the Governor of Honduras at CABEI and Minister of Finance, Luis Mata; the Governor for Taiwan and Minister of Finance, Dr. Jain-Rong Su; and the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Taiwan, Dr. Nan-Kuang Chen.

Historic support

The support of the Republic of China (Taiwan) to the Central American region has been constant through cooperation and financing in areas that include food security, agriculture, education, financing of MSMEs, in addition to the creation of the International Cooperation and Development Fund (TaiwanICDF) through which, in 2020, two agreements were signed for an aggregate amount of US$130.0 million to finance eligible operations in CABEI´s COVID-19 Emergency Support and Preparedness Program and the Economic Reactivation Program.

Historically, since the enrollment of the Republic of China (Taiwan) as a non-regional member, CABEI has issued a total of 20 notes totaling an amount of US$2.6 billion, in both, the Taiwanese and Formosa markets. Additionally, the Asian country made early payments of the first installments related to the two capital subscriptions made within the framework of the Bank's VIII General Capital Increase, for a total amount of US$8.6 million in 2021.

The Republic of China (Taiwan) has expressed its willingness to provide technical cooperation and its desire to deepen its relationship with CABEI, which is why it will continue to explore new opportunities to invest in Central America and incorporate new financial tools.