A container of white shrimp imported from the Central American country of Honduras was opened on Dec. 2, 2020 in Yilan County's Wujie Township in a celebratory event attended by the company's management and both Taiwanese and Honduran diplomats.
The container is one of 150 transporting white shrimp that Taiwanese importer is contracted to import from the Central American country in 2020. According to the company’s president, Mr. Wu, they began to import white shrimp from Honduras in 2015, starting with 18 containers.
As demand has continued to grow over the years, the company will have imported 220 containers from Central America in 2020, including 150 from Honduras. This makes the company the nation’s biggest Central American white shrimp importer, Wu added.
Honduran Ambassador to Taiwan Eny Bautista, who also attended the event, praised the importer for its contribution to bilateral trade. She expressed her wish that the friendship between the two countries would continue to grow in the years to come.
Yui Tah-ray, director-general at the Latin American and Caribbean Department of Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), said Honduras is one of the three Central American countries that Taiwan signed a free trade agreement (FTA) with 28 years ago. Taiwan also imports coffee from Honduras, Yui said, adding that trade between Taiwan and its allies in Central America has grown exponentially over the years.
According to MOFA, the Taiwanese love for seafood has driven up demand for high-quality products, and Central America, with oceans on both sides and excellent seafood farming capabilities, has become Taiwan’s main supplier. This is especially true of white shrimp, lobster, and dried sea slugs.
According to customs statistics, Taiwan imported over 70 percent of its frozen white shrimp and nearly 50 percent of its lobster from the three Central American allies of Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua.
The signing of an economic cooperation agreement with Belize, another diplomatic ally, is expected to drive up Taiwan’s lobster imports from that country, according to MOFA.