The president welcomed Fitial, NMI first lady Josie Fitial and former Guam Gov. Joseph F. Ada to Taiwan to explore the possibility of expanded bilateral economic, trade, and investment cooperation.
Fitial was elated to see that Ma is in support of strengthening Taiwan’s ties with the CNMI in terms of education, culture and tourism.
Fitial is only the ninth U.S. gubernatorial-level official to have met Ma since he assume the presidency in 2008.
The president was joined by his National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Chih-kung Liu during the meeting with Fitial.
The governor also met with Taiwan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Timothy Chin-Tien Yang.
Fitial is optimistic about the economic opportunities that may arise through the development of an educational tourism industry in the Northern Marianas.
“President Ma had indicated his support to encourage Taiwan students to take language courses in the CNMI through our local community college as well as private institutions of higher learning,” said Fitial.
With the support of Ma, Fitial is seeking to broaden the potential for educational tourism to include exchange programs between Taiwan and CNMI schools.
“We also discussed the possibility of expanding the idea to include student exchange programs at the junior high and high school level. This would provide students from both jurisdictions the opportunity to expand their knowledge and learn about the importance of international diversity,” Fitial said.
