Taipei, Oct. 14, 2008 (CENS)--Besides visiting Taipei on the occasion of the National Day of Taiwan, Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom Caballeros recently tried to attract investments in the Central American nation at the Guatemala Investment and Trade presentation sponsored by the Investment Commission under the Ministry of Economic Affairs.

On his second visit in Taiwan, Caballeros said poverty is his nation`s biggest challenge, while eradicating such problem calls for attracting investments.

Guatemala is conveniently located in Central America with proximity to the U.S. and Canada, as well as having economic and trade ties with neighboring nations. The nation has signed a free trade agreement with neighboring Colombia and will do so with Brazil in eight months.

Caballeros aims to attract Taiwan investors to help his nation grow during his four-year tenure.

Chang Gung Biotechnology Corp., a subsidiary of the Formosa Plastics Group, has already built an 1,800 fixed-price housing units for medium and low-income Guatemalans.

The Guatemalan president hopes Taiwan`s petrochemical firms would build plants to create jobs there, adding that output of such plants could easily access such major markets as the U.S. and Mexico.

"Guatemala is one of the two Central American nations to develop petrochemical industry, with the other being Panama," said Caballeros. "We have been making all-out efforts for two-and-half years to solicit foreign firms to invest in oil refining in Guatemala as the output can be easily shipped to Mexico and other Latin American markets."


(by Ben Shen)