Baushuan Ger
Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs
Republic of China (Taiwan)
November 26, 2025
(As Delivered)
Her Excellency Andrea Bowman, Ambassador of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Dean of the Diplomatic Corps;
Excellencies Ambassadors and Members of the Diplomatic Corps;
Ms. Chen Hsueh-yu, Director-General of the Youth Development Administration at the Ministry of Education;
Mr. Stephen Lee, Deputy Secretary-General of the International Cooperation and Development Fund;
Young friends from our diplomatic allies from Latin America;
Ladies and gentlemen:
Good afternoon!
It is a great pleasure to meet you all today and to witness the completion of your learning journey in Taiwan. First of all, congratulations on your successfully finishing this month-long program.
Your proactive participation has helped to strengthen exchanges between Taiwan and our Latin American allies.
You are the second group to have participated in the Diplomatic Allies Inbound Track. Since its inception, this program has been acclaimed both domestically and internationally.
When President Lai Ching-te met with the first group of participants from African and Pacific island nations in July, he figured that the original two weeks were too short of a time to facilitate meaningful learning and exchanges.
He instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Education to extend the program to a full month for future groups to enhance the participants’ understanding of Taiwan and expand their professional knowledge.
During your visit here, you—our young friends from Belize, Guatemala, Saint Lucia, Saint Christopher and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Paraguay—have participated in programs covering smart agriculture and sustainable tourism.
You have gained valuable knowledge and insights through classes, site visits, and cross-cultural exchanges.
For example, in the smart agriculture course, you learned how to use Internet-of-Things technology to improve quality control and supply chain management.
In the sustainable tourism course, you explored Taiwan’s work to encourage eco-tourism, visiting places like the Heping Island Geopark and the Taomi Agricultural Leisure Area, while also gaining insight on how to balance tourism development with ecological preservation and local economic growth.
The program also included trips to experience Taiwan’s rich history, culture, and diversity. You visited such iconic landmarks as Taipei 101 and the Mazu Temple in Lukang.
I trust that you have felt the warmth of our people while building a stronger bridge of friendship between Taiwan and your countries.
Taiwan has a long-standing cooperative relationship with a number of Latin American countries.
We hope that our youth exchange programs help young people from our diplomatic allies realize their dreams in Taiwan as well as encourage our young people to expand bilateral cooperation by traveling to your nations.
I anticipate that you will continue to serve as ambassadors of friendship, ensuring that our diplomatic ties remain vibrant for generations to come.
Finally, I would like to once again congratulate all of you for completing your studies.
I also want to thank the Ministry of Education and all the teams who have contributed to the success of this program. Your efforts have strengthened the bond between Taiwan and Caribbean Latin America.
I wish all of you the best as you move forward, and hope that you will share what you have learned back in your home countries, so that more people know and understand Taiwan.
Thank you.