Panama president seeks investment from Taiwan

Oct 22, 2010, 9:26 GMT

Taipei - Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli began a visit to Taiwan Friday to seek investment from the island, whose government Panama is one of the few countries to recognize over Beijing.

President Ma Ying-jeou held a welcoming ceremony for Martinelli at the National Concert Hall before they held talks at the Presidential Office.

Ma thanked Panama for supporting Taiwan's quest to win admittance to international organizations, which China has tried to block, and said he hoped their two governments would promote cooperation and friendly ties.

Taiwan, after losing its UN seat to China in 1971, has been fighting an uphill battle to rejoin the United Nations and other international groups.

Taiwan attaches great importance to Martinelli's visit because Panama is one of the 23 mostly small nations that recognize Taiwan, and he is the first Panamanian president to visit the island in six years.

On Friday, he also rode the Taipei metro as Panama is trying to lure foreign investment to improve Panama's infrastructure, including building a rapid mass transit system in Panama City.

Taiwan is the last stop on Martinelli's Asia tour, during which he also stopped ain Singapore and South Korea.

During his two-day stay in Taiwan, he is to visit a high-tech park and meet with local business leaders to encourage them to invest in his Central American country.

In the past, China, which sees Taiwan as its breakaway province, used to woo Taiwan's allies to drop Taipei and recognize Beijing.

This diplomatic battle came to a stop in 2008 when Ma came to power and proposed a diplomatic truce in which Taiwan and China would stop stealing each other's diplomatic allies in an effort to seek peace and economic cooperation instead.

Panama and China have opened trade missions in each other's capitals.

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