In Belmopan City on Thursday, May 28, Hon. Wilfred Elrington, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Foreign Minister of the Republic of China (Taiwan) signed agreements on the establishment of an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) center in Belize.

The Republic of China (Taiwan) is famous globally for its information technology industry. The ICT center will help to develop e-Government application systems, and to improve digital capacity building, education and training in order to facilitate an appropriate environment for digitalization. Digitalization will improve government efficiency and enhance the over-all competitiveness of the country. An example of benefits in e-Government systems would be seen in the processing of applications for land. Instead of taking a trip to the Lands Department, an individual will be able to apply via the Internet.

Computer literacy is important in the process of digitalization. Many Belizeans are not computer literate and that is why there will be a huge education and training campaign. President Ma Ying-Jeou told a story about when he was transforming Taipei into a cyber city. He was in his office one day and was checking his e-mail. He saw an e-mail saying, "You looked tired today son. Get some rest - mom." He said that he was puzzled because he knew his mother did not know how to use the computer. He called her on the phone and asked if she sent him an e-mail and how did she learn how to use a computer. His mother said, "You have set up computer training centers all over the city. I just went into one of them up the street and after the guy finished training me he told me to send an e-mail to you. Besides you are so busy it was the only way I could get to you." President Ma’s mother is over 80-years-old. He said if she can learn how to use the computer at that age, everyone could do so.

The construction of the ICT center should be completed in the second half of the year 2009. It will not only serve as an education and training center, but it will also provide a venue to showcase the results of ICT cooperation projects between Belize and Taiwan. The total investment for the construction of ICT center and purchase of the necessary hardware, software etc. is US$300,000.

Also on Thursday, May 28, while her husband was busy in Belmopan City, First Lady of Belize Kim Simplis-Barrow was in Belize City hosting a luncheon in honour of the First Lady of the Republic of China (Taiwan) Madame Ma. Madame Ma commended Mrs. Simplis-Barrow for her work with children and donated a cheque for the sum of US$20,000 to her Lifeline foundation.

Other bilateral plans that were already in progress include a visit from a writer and photographer of a Taiwanese publishing company to Belize. They will produce a tourism guidebook in Chinese. The guidebook will be edited and printed in Taiwan for local and regional distribution to travel agencies, members of the private and public sectors, press and media and airline companies. A media crew will also be visiting Belize to create a translated version of the Belize tourism film, "Be One With Belize". Continuing with the theme of tourism, Belize will be participating in the Taipei International Travel Fair from October 30 - November 2 in Taipei City. Belize will also be participating at the Taipei International Food Show scheduled for June 23-26.

There are currently 70 Belizean students studying in Taiwan Universities. These students major in areas such as nursing, medicine, economics, information technology, international trade, tourism, chemical engineering, industrial engineering and international business. President Ma said he hopes that as the relationship grows stronger this number will increase as well as the number of Taiwanese students studying in Belize.