Taiwan contributes US$16.5mn to irrigation project

Taiwanese officials signed a US$16.5mn agreement that will see the completion of the Quimistán valley irrigation project in Honduras, El Tiempo reported. The project was initially agreed as part of a bilateral agreement signed by both countries in 1997 but was delayed due to administrative and financial problems. However, Taiwanese officials recently agreed to pay the US$16.5mn needed to complete the project after Honduras guaranteed that the project could be finished by November of this year. When completed, the work will irrigate 1,860 hectares of land in the Quimistán valley, located in the Santa Bárbara region of northeast Honduras. Almost 2,000 farmers are expected to benefit from the project. The work will be led by Taiwanese engineering and consultancy firm, Sinotech.