Mr. Jin-Pyng Wang, Vice President, Mr. Jao, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Tien, members of the Legislative Yuan, Ambassador of the Republic of China to El Salvador Mr. and Mrs. Yen, ladies, and gentlemen,
I am honored to join members of the Legislative Yuan in a parliamentary session today. I am particularly honored to meet the elected representatives of the Republic of China whom the Salvadorans respect and owe their gratitude. The states of Central America, including El Salvador, have found a true friend in the Republic of China. In response to the friendship demonstrated by your country's support for the integration of Central American states, we support your country's legitimate claims with respect, passion, and steadfast support.
I hereby wish to convey to the members of the Legislative Yuan the profound admiration of the people of El Salvador for the people and government of Taiwan for your solidarity as a nation and respect for personal dignity that have helped you surpass numerous countries in Europe and Asia to become the 15th economic power in the world. A such, the purpose of my visit is to strengthen the relations between the Republic of China and states of Central America such El Salvador. However, I must emphasize that Taiwan and El Salvador have established smooth and positive communication mechanisms and the "Republic of China and Central America Hybrid Committee" has effectively promoted friendship and cooperation between the two countries. We agree with the President Mr. Chen's proposal for using other cooperation mechanisms as the supplements to the previous mechanisms to strengthen bilateral relations and to supporting Taiwan's legitimate claims for peace and freedom. As specifically declared in the communique which I will sign with His Excellency President Mr. Chen tomorrow, both parties agree that disputes arising anywhere in the world must be resolved peacefully by both parties through dialogue and negotiations in accordance with the norms of international law. Countries must comply with international law and respect the sovereignty and territories of other countries, national self-determination, non-interference of the internal politics of other countries, and the prohibition against using violence or military threats to resolve disputes between countries. The aforementioned principles form the basis of maintaining peace and international institutions.
Salvadorans have proved in modern history that violence and coercion will deprive them of the possibilities of rational dispute resolution. Therefore, after years of political and social turmoil, the political factions of our country decided to sit down and end the civil war through negotiations in 1992. After the Salvadorans regained peace, we will work hard to maintain the peace we had fought for and demonstrate our resolve to coexist and prosper. The path may be arduous but we will use our resolve for cooperation and development in our unwavering path to peace. It is also with our cooperation and resolve that I have the honor of supporting the Republic of China in the defense of its freedom.
We understand the important development of the political and economic relations and cooperation between our countries in recent years and we have significantly increased trade in the past 5 years. In terms of other work for promoting trade, we recognize the importance of the "Central America Trade Office" established in Taipei in July 1997. The Office effectively promotes bilateral trade, tourism, and cultural relations. First Commercial Bank of the Republic of China recently set up a Branch in El Salvador and will commence operations this month. The establishment of the Branch also signifies increased investments of Taiwanese companies in El Salvador.
After the economic crisis of the 1980s, El Salvador now reaps the benefits of a balanced and free economy without government interference. El Salvador has open, modern, and competitive banks and it plays special role in Central America from Guatemala to Panama. Our financial system is a free system that meets international norms. therefore, most banks in El Salvador are branches of foreign banks or regional multinational banks of Central America. The international community has recognized our country's progress in this respect. For instance, Heritage Foundation of the United States have listed El Salvador as a very open economy in its recent analysis.
El Salvador is determined to respect property rights and is committed to transparency in financial regulations to support enterprises and investors. El Salvador has adopted international standards for its financial regulations and embraced an open financial market for its development. We have not established limits on fund in for either domestic circulation or remittance to the original investment nations and we are working hard to streamline investment procedures. Our country has the most modern airport in Central America and we have created an efficient tariff system.
We also pay close attention to the development of human capital as we pursue economic development and we have high-quality and productive laborers. As we pursue our goals for becoming a portal for the region, we also hope integration, efficiency, and competitiveness to be our forte and help us to become a leader of Central America and play a greater role in the international economy. To achieve this purpose, we also leverage benefits of the US Caribbean Basin Initiative and the Free Trade Agreement signed with Mexico which help El Salvador become an attractive country for investment.
I had the opportunity to explain the vision of the people of El Salvador to government officials of Taiwan on my visit. Our new strategy will focus on integrating human capital, the financial system, and national resources. The integration will help us make use of the advantages of related local industries and maximize economic benefits. Allowing the circulation of foreign currencies will also lower interest rates, extend debt repayment, and increase domestic savings. Salvadorans firmly believe that we must first achieve internal integration to achieve integration with the world. We are committed to becoming an open country without privileges, and a country with high productivity and active participation in international affairs. The government and people of El Salvador are very grateful for the support provided by the Republic of China for technical and financial projects through bilateral or regional initiatives, particularly the timely support provided when we faced difficulties such as the dengue fever that recently caused the death of hundreds of children. We also wish to reiterate our commitment to hard work with your country for protecting our freedom and strengthening the relations between our countries. El Salvador is implementing a series of economic reforms based on changes in the current world with the aim of keeping up with the diversity and changes across the world. With our position between two major economies in the world and our active economic system, we shall leverage our creative capacity and responsible and humble attitude for learning to transform our country into a top choice for economic activities for global investors.
I firmly believe that the direct communication between parties will strengthen existing partnerships and we hope that we can work together to strengthen cooperation and achieve prosperity on the basis of mutual trust and benefits. I am very honored to lead the first delegation that includes the party whips of political parties of El Salvador to Taiwan. The representatives of parties that accompany me on my visit to the Republic of China have set aside party agendas to work hard under the same flag. Our visit has brought different parties and different voices of El Salvador to the Republic of China to exchange ideas with you. I believe that it is a very significant process.
A country's creativity and vigor are exemplified by the diverse opinions of the country. The different opinions are what urges us to rise above. The different voices that have accompanied me to the Legislative Yuan today represent the best of El Salvador. I feel comfortable standing before you today as I had once served as a member of the parliament. I deeply understand the strong basis of public support represented by the members of the Legislative Yuan. Each of you must express different opinions to fulfill your mandate but among each of you l maintain solid friendship in private. This is the positive friendship that facilitates parliamentary cooperation despite that different opinions still exist. I hope you can all regard me as a colleague because the relations between states are still established on human connections. Nothing can be more important than that.
Finally, I wish express my utmost respect and best wishes to you all. Thank you.
Video Link：https://aam.ly.gov.tw/P000051_03.do/1206
