Honduran Vice President Doris Alejandrina Gutierrez has highlighted the significant cooperative achievements in the two years since establishing diplomatic relations with China, from rural education to skyrocketing exports of the Latin American country's staple commodities.
China and Honduras signed a joint communique in Beijing on the establishment of diplomatic relations on March 26, 2023.
In an exclusive interview with CGTN Espanol, Gutierrez emphasized the rapid progress and mutual benefits of the relationship in the past two years. She pointed to several key areas of cooperation, including technological exchanges, trade agreements, and educational support.
"Two years have already passed in which we have had very important and significant achievements. The simple fact of establishing diplomatic relations with a country as powerful as the People's Republic of China allows us to learn about new advances, and new technologies, and to establish - and it's in progress - a mechanism of commercial relations through an agreement where both sides will benefit," said the vice president.
"Likewise, we are grateful for the support for the installation of agricultural schools that will be very useful, especially for rural sectors, which are sectors in great need of education. Similarly, the export of products such as coffee and shrimp has been of great importance to our country. Logically, trade with China is enormous due to the size of its population. We export in smaller quantities precisely because of the same situation that we are a smaller country," she said.
Recently, Honduran Foreign Minister Enrique Reina and Chinese Ambassador to Honduras Yu Bo signed an agreement in which China will donate 298 ambulances to Honduras.
Gutierrez hailed the decision, which is expected to help meet the country's need to service rural areas with limited access to healthcare.
"We appreciate the offer to send hundreds of ambulances, which will be very useful, especially for the most remote municipalities where the population needs a means to transport themselves in an emergency situation," she said.
The vice president also highlighted that dozens of Honduran university students have accepted scholarships to study in China since diplomatic ties were established.
"We also appreciate the support in that they have donated many scholarships so that our compatriots can go to specialize or study different technical areas there in the People's Republic of China, which is highly technical and with great technological advances," she said.
"So, we are pleased that President Castro made the decision to establish diplomatic relations with China, and we hope that these relations will continue to strengthen and that they will serve, above all, to support a large number of people in need in our country with the very concrete support of our friends from China," Gutierrez added.
Honduran vice president lauds significant gains in two years of establishment of diplomatic ties with China
