Taipei, Oct. 16 (CNA) Performance groups from Taiwan's Central American and Caribbean diplomatic allies will soon visit Taiwan on a mission to boost bilateral cultural exchanges, a foreign affairs official said Tuesday.

A xylophone group from Guatemala, a dance troupe from St. Lucia and a steel drum band from Belize, among others, will visit Taiwan from Oct. 17 to 28 to perform around Taiwan, said Florencia Hsie, deputy director-general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Department of Latin American and Caribbean Affairs.

Invited to increase the Taiwanese people's appreciation for the cultures of the country's diplomatic allies, the groups will perform in Taipei, Taoyuan, Taichung and Kaohsiung, Hsie said at a news briefing.