Taiwan, Paraguay To Ink Cooperation MOU

Rukhshan Mir (@rukhshanmir) Published October 18, 2018 | 05:00 PM

Taiwan and its only South American diplomatic ally Paraguay will sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in cooperation, hopefully later this year, Vice Foreign Minister Jose Maria Liu said Thursday during a legislative hearing.

Taipei, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th Oct, 2018 ) :Taiwan and its only South American diplomatic ally Paraguay will sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in cooperation, hopefully later this year, Vice Foreign Minister Jose Maria Liu said Thursday during a legislative hearing.

Liu's comment came after Foreign Minister Joseph Wu confirmed a day earlier that the two countries are pushing a US $150 million investment proposal.

Asked by a legislator about the deal unveiled by Paraguayan President Mario Abdo Benitez during a state visit to Taiwan last week, Liu said the Paraguayan president, who took office in August, wants to deepen cooperation with Taiwan in terms of investment, economic, trade and public infrastructure.

Noting that Taiwan and Paraguay maintain good relations, Liu said the South American country is looking to conduct cooperation with Taiwan in education, social welfare, medical care and infrastructure projects.

Abdo said Monday in a tweet that Taiwan has agreed to invest US$150 million in his country to help boost development in these areas.

However, Liu said that the two sides have not yet signed a MOU on cooperation for the next five years but will do so soon, hopefully by the end of this year.

Asked about the source of the US$150 million budget, Liu said it might be allocated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Paraguay has had diplomatic relations with Taiwan since 1957.