MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Taiwan interested in financing Panama Canal expansion

Taiwan is prepared to participate in the financing of the project to enlarge the Panama Canal, once the project has been approved by the Panamanian electorate next October.

Visiting Taiwanese Foreign Affairs minister James Huang said that "we are willing and ready to participate in the canal enlargement", following a meeting with Panamanian Vice President Samuel Lewis Navarro and other top officials.

Huang recalled that Taiwan is one of the waterway's principal users because of its large volume of international trade.

Lewis Navarro said that in the meeting with Huang the bilateral agenda and current joint programs in agriculture, fisheries and education currently in process were addressed.

Panama is one of the few countries in the world which has full diplomatic relations with Taiwan that happens to be a generous contributor to cooperation programs in the area. "We are identifying areas for a greater degree of cooperation for the future" said Panamanian minister Lewis Navarro.

Besides meeting Panama president Martin Torrijos, the Taiwanese minister visited the Miraflores locks and had a close look at the Canal's operations, plus an insight into the expansion project which has an estimated cost of over five billion US dollars.

James Huang is also scheduled to hold a meeting in Panama City with Taiwanese ambassadors from the region before leaving for Costa Rica. Panama and other Central American countries are among the two-dozen countries that have diplomatic relations with Taiwan, considered a "rebel province" by the regime of Beijing.