Premier Wu Den-yih said Saturday Taiwan would offer at least US$5 million to its Caribbean ally Haiti.

Meanwhile, according to a foreign ministry news release, the first Taiwanese rescue team had arrived in neighboring Dominican Republic en route to Haiti. The ministry said the rescue team would enter Haiti once it gets landing approval from the nation's only airport.

A second rescue team also left Taiwan for Haiti on Friday. Another six medical experts from the NGO Taiwan International Health Action are set to leave for Haiti next week.

Haiti's airport was damaged in Tuesday's magnitude-7.0 earthquake. Many planes from around the world are waiting to land there and unload rescue teams, medicine, and relief supplies.

Media reports said Haiti's government on Friday agreed to grant temporary control of the nation's main airport to the United States to speed up the relief work.