Remarks by Hon. Jose Abelardo Mai

Minister of Agriculture, Food Security & Enterprise

Visit by President of the Republic of China (Taiwan) National Sheep and Goat Breeding Center at Central Farm April 3, 2023

A pleasant good afternoon,

It is a pleasure and honor to address you today and offer a huge welcome to you, Dr. Tsai Ing-Wen, President of the Republic of China (Taiwan), and your team. Your presence with us today is evidence that the bilateral and technical cooperation that Taiwan shares with Belize has support at the highest level in Taiwan.

The cordial friendship and collaboration that Belize and Taiwan continue to enjoy began 34 years ago, specifically on October 11, 1989. This longstanding friendship is founded on the principles of self-determination, territorial integrity and national sovereignty that both nations share and is made in light of the unfounded claim that mainland China has on Republic of China (Taiwan) and, in like manner, that Guatemala has on Belize. And, because of this mutual connection and history, so long as I am a Minister of Government and have influence in Belize’s diplomatic decisions, whether am in Government or in Opposition, I will be a strong advocate for Belize to remain steadfast in its support for Taiwan’s sovereignty and independence. And as the Minister of Agriculture, who visited Taiwan recently, I must add that I admire Taiwan’s approach to agricultural development. We have much to learn about the ROC (Taiwan)’s path to economic independence, focusing first on developing its primary agriculture production, then moving into agro-processing, value-adding and overall industrial development, while, at the same time, moving to small-scale mechanization and modernizing of its agricultural services. Taiwan’s agricultural development was all guided by strategic decision-making and was built on a strong foundation of research, technology, and a strong approach to local and international marketing.

The mutual interest that our countries share has allowed the partnership between us to flourish and for Belize to enjoy the benefits of various initiatives that provide fiscal support during times of economic crisis, scholarships targeting agriculture, engineering and other economic sectors for Belizeans to study in Taiwan, interventions that boost socio-economic development, and projects that promote value adding and economic empowerment. In the agriculture sector, we have benefited from support to specific agricultural research and development projects, agro-processing and agri-businesses.

This collaboration has so far played a dynamic and crucial role in helping to bring together stakeholders in the development of the Agriculture Sector, beginning with the development of the rice industry in the early days of our partnership to the valuable work done with introduced fruits such as guavas and plums; strategic support provided through the agro-process - ing unit set up right here in Central Farm by the ROC Taiwan Technical Mission and, more recently, the sheep and goat sub-sectors in Belize.

Belize is a small country with a little over four hundred thousand people and, in a very special way, using our tenacity and resilience, we are producing and ensuring food security, much like Taiwan has done.

Today, we are here at the National Sheep and Goat Breeding Center that is located at the Livestock Section in Central Farm. The beauty and development you see here today is

The Belize Times

a result of this great collaboration that I have spoken of, that has also permeated this project during the last two phases. In 2015, the Ministry of Agriculture conducted an assessment and found that the sheep and goat sub-sector was suffering from poor genetics, dilapidated infrastructure and limited capacity building for the sheep and goat farmers in the country. Since then, the country has seen an increase in the production of small ruminants, improved infrastructures and enhanced capacity of farmers, thanks to the intervention of the Republic of China (Taiwan) through both phases of the Sheep and Goat Project. According to the sheep population survey of 2022, there are about 17,264 head of sheep in Belize that