Saint Lucia and Taiwan Leaders Meet

PRESIDENT Tsai Ing-wen met with Saint Lucia Prime Minister Allan Chastanet on the morning of October 9.

In her remarks, the president emphasised that Taiwan will actively encourage outstanding engineering firms in Taiwan to participate in infrastructure projects in Saint Lucia-based on the “mutual assistance for mutual benefits” principle to promote Saint Lucia’s national development and upgrade our bilateral partnership.

The president opened her remarks by saying that she was delighted to host her old friend Prime Minister Chastanet at the Presidential Office again, and thanked him for taking time out of his busy schedule to participate in Taiwan’s National Day celebrations. She then noted that the last time they met, in November last year, the prime minister not only lauded the successes of bilateral cooperative projects, but also shared many ideas about how to strengthen bilateral cooperation.

He also visited the Taiwan Technical Mission in Saint Lucia about a month ago and spoke with the mission members.

From his actions, said the president, we can see and feel that the prime minister places great importance on our bilateral cooperation and exchanges.

President Tsai noted that Prime Minister Chastanet has visited Taiwan three times in a little over two years, and on each occasion, she was happy to be able to share new cooperative successes with him.

The Government Island-wide Network (GINet) Project jointly promoted by Taiwan and Saint Lucia was launched in early May of this year to provide the citizens of Saint Lucia with wireless Internet service.

President Tsai emphasised that Taiwan will actively encourage outstanding engineering firms in Taiwan to participate in infrastructure projects in Saint Lucia based on the “mutual assistance for mutual benefits” principle, creating job opportunities there.

These cooperative ventures will spur Saint Lucia’s national development and also upgrade the bilateral partnership.

President Tsai also mentioned that the last time Prime Minister Chastanet visited Taiwan, he stated that Taiwan and Saint Lucia both hope to contribute to the international community by achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

She expressed special thanks to the prime minister for speaking out on Taiwan’s behalf during the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and expressing support for Taiwan during the General Debate of the United Nations General Assembly this year.

President Tsai closed her remarks by saying that she hopes Prime Minister Chastanet and the Saint Lucia government will continue to support Taiwan’s appeals to participate in various international organisations, so that Taiwan-Saint Lucia cooperation can be extended, and contribute to the entire world. She also wished the prime minister a smooth and successful trip.

Prime Minister Chastanet then delivered remarks, noting that this was his third visit to Taiwan within the last two years.

On behalf of Saint Lucia, he congratulated us on our Double Tenth National Day, and thanked President Tsai for her warm hospitality.

The prime minister then said that over the past ten years, the friendship between Taiwan and Saint Lucia has flourished, noting that Taiwan has always been a good friend to Saint Lucia, and is an extremely important partner as well as a trusted ally.

In fact, Taiwan and Saint Lucia share common goals, and although Saint Lucia is a small country, it perseveres in speaking up on Taiwan’s behalf in international venues, and will continue to cooperate with Taiwan to move forward. He also expressed hope that this visit to Taiwan would further upgrade bilateral relations.

(Source: Office of the President, Republic of China (Taiwan)