H.E. Ambassador Timothy Tien-Yie Hsiang, Secretary General of International Cooperation Development Fund (ICDF) of Republic of China (Taiwan) led a five-member delegation to visit Saint Lucia from March 18th to 21st, 2018. The purposes of visit are to better understand the status of various bilateral cooperation projects in Saint Lucia and to explore new opportunities for cooperation between the two countries.
On March 19th, the delegation together with Taiwan Ambassador H.E. Douglas C.T. Shen called on Hon. Ezechiel Joseph, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries, Physical Planning, Natural Resources and Co-operatives. Minister Joseph welcomed the delegation and expressed gratitude to the government of Taiwan for its contribution in assisting island’s agriculture, especially in restoring banana production to the pre-Mathew level before 2016. He emphasized that the Ministry look forward to continuing cooperate with the government of Taiwan to further increase the productivity and quality of the targeted crops, and to create more training programs for local farmers and youth. Secretary General Hsiang promised that ICDF will work closely with Embassy of Taiwan in the development of island’s agriculture and will introduce new projects in the years to come.
Secretary General Hsiang also visited the local banana farmers at Roseau to see banana harvesting and packing process. He talked with local farmers, and sampled some bananas and praised their unique and delicious flavor.
The ICDF operates under the supervision of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China (Taiwan) to implement technical cooperation projects in allies countries. Since 2007, the foundation has implemented various projects in agriculture, aquaculture, ICT and volunteers programs. There are three cooperation projects in Saint Lucia currently, including “Fruit and Vegetable Demonstration and Extension Project Phase II “, “Banana Productivity Improvement Project” and “Government Island-Wide Network (GINet) Project”. The GINet project is intended to help Saint Lucia develop Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) in public areas, and provide residents, tourists and businesses with free internet access.
H.E. Ambassador Timothy Tien-Yie Hsiang, Secretary General of International Cooperation Development Fund (ICDF) (left5) accompanied by Taiwanese Ambassador H.E. Douglas Shen(left4) call on Hon. Ezechiel Joseph, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries, Physical Planning, Natural Resources and Co-operatives
ICDF delegation visited the local banana farmers at Roseau to see banana harvesting and packing process.
