President Tsai Ing-wen met on the morning of May 20 with Mr. Stephenson King, Saint Lucia Minister for Infrastructure, Ports, Energy and Labour. The president thanked Minister King for exercising his political influence for so many years to promote and consolidate the bilateral friendship between Taiwan and St. Lucia. She also expressed hope that various cooperative projects and Taiwan's participation in St. Lucia infrastructure projects will enhance bilateral cooperation.
President Tsai stated that Minister King has been a friend of Taiwan for many years, and that she was delighted he was visiting Taiwan again. On behalf of the government and people of Taiwan, the president offered a sincere welcome.
President Tsai pointed out that when she met the participants in Taiwan's international training course for outstanding officers on May 14, she mentioned that we have made over 8,000 friends through that program, who now form a network for friendly interaction, cooperation and exchanges, and that Minister King is a good example.
The president stated that Minister King not only participated in that training program, but also previously visited Taiwan twice during his tenure as prime minister. So she offered Minister King special thanks for exercising his political influence for so many years to promote and consolidate the bilateral friendship between Taiwan and St. Lucia. "We take that kind of deep friendship to heart," she said.
President Tsai also noted that over the past few years, the results of bilateral cooperative programs in infrastructure, agriculture, medicine, and ICT development, have been lauded by both the government and people of St. Lucia. This May, she said, the Government Island Wide Network Project Taiwan has been implementing achieved its objective, and the people of St. Lucia now enjoy wireless network service in their daily lives.
Going forward, President Tsai stated, Taiwan will continue to work in the spirit of mutual assistance for mutual benefits, and encourage outstanding Taiwan engineering firms to participate in St. Lucia infrastructure projects, further enhancing our bilateral cooperation.
The president also took this opportunity to thank St. Lucia for supporting Taiwan. At the UN General Assembly last September, and during the joint high-level segment of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change last November, Prime Minister Allen Chastanet spoke out on Taiwan's behalf. President Tsai then asked Minister King to convey our thanks to the prime minister when he returned home, and also expressed hope that St. Lucia will continue to support Taiwan's international participation.
