Saint Lucia’s Deputy Prime Minister, Dr. Ernest Hilaire, began a five-day visit to Taiwan on Monday, lauding his country’s special friendship with the East Asian country.
“Taiwan is a very special friend of Saint Lucia,” Taiwan’s Central News Agency (CNA) quoted Hilaire as saying.
According to CNA, the Saint Lucia Deputy Prime Minister said the primary goal of his first Taiwan visit was to express appreciation and gratitude to the government and people of Taiwan for the assistance and support they have given to his country.
Hilaire noted that his trip would also involve talks with Taiwan’s government and private businesses about deepening relations in agriculture, healthcare systems, the creative industry, and cultural exchanges.
Hilaire is also responsible for tourism, investment, creative industries, culture, and information.
Writing on Facebook, he described the first day of his official Taiwan visit as exciting.
On Monday, he visited an old wooden Japanese house-turned café at Taipei’s tourism hotspot Yongkang Street.
And Hilaire observed that by studying such examples, Saint Lucia could learn to transfer the Caribbean country’s historical relics into tourist attractions.
It is the second official trip to Taiwan by a senior Saint Lucia government official this year.
External Affairs, International Trade, and Civil Aviation Minister Alva R. Baptiste visited in March.
The Republic of China, the official name of Taiwan, and Saint Lucia first established diplomatic relations in 1984.
But in 1997, Saint Lucia switched recognition from Taipei to Beijing, reestablishing relations with Taiwan in April 2007.
As a result, China consequently severed its formal ties with Saint Lucia.
In this technological age you need to travel to Taiwan to express appreciation, and to go all the way to Taiwan to see a historic building transform into a tourist attraction, SMH
Doc don’t take NO LOANS. If they giving a pocket charge that’s fine or if they want to build something, or take on a infrastructure project for our vote that’s OK but NO LOANS. Allen Chastanet has fiscal enslaved a whole generation of St Lucians with these people already.
Does anyone know the total amount borrowed by Kenny Anthony during his three stints as Prime Minister?
,@Andrew Margarine the total sum The Most Honorable KDA has borrowed during is total tenure combined does not or ever equate to the sum of the USD$ 180 Million (3.2 Billion ECD$) that Allen Michael Chastanet has borrowed of which your generation will never repay. The Most Honorable KDA has NEVER brought in the Loan Sharks IMF he is smart enough to have read the Michael Manley Memoirs and not lead St down that devastating fiscal abyss instead it was we pay more VAT and be in control of our country and destiny until Allen came along you know the rest.