President Ma Ying-jeou on the morning of June 13 met with Saint Lucia Prime Minister Stephenson King and extended a warm welcome to the guest on behalf of the government and people of the ROC (Taiwan).
President Ma said that the ROC and Saint Lucia have a stable diplomatic alliance and that there is an increasing number of people-to-people contacts between the two nations. He said that he hopes to expand existing cooperation projects based on the foundation that already exists and to foster an even higher level of mutual understanding between the two nations.
President Ma said he hopes Prime Minister King will take advantage of this trip to Taiwan to understand the current state of the nation. He encouraged the prime minister to visit areas outside of Taipei. He especially recommended visiting some of Taiwan's farming villages, saying they are extremely worth seeing.
The president said that in addition to official relations, he is especially interested in promoting interaction between people of the two countries, in particular in the areas of education and culture. The president said he hopes student and artist exchange programs can be initiated between the two countries. He mentioned that in the past during his tenure as Taipei mayor, he threw his support behind a resident artists exchange program. He said that communication between students of the two countries is made all the easier since the official language of Saint Lucia is English.
Prime Minister King thanked President Ma for taking time out of his busy schedule to meet with him. He also expressed his appreciation for the warm reception he has received. The prime minister, on behalf of the people and government of Saint Lucia, expressed his congratulations to President Ma on winning the presidential election and on his inauguration. He praised Taiwan's economic achievements as a model for his nation. He also expressed his gratitude to Taiwan for its assistance in Saint Lucia's development via long-term technical cooperation and technical transfers.
President Ma provided a brief recap of Taiwan's development experience, mentioning land reform, the release of public land, the adoption of an import substitution strategy and then an export-oriented economy policy. After the economy began to take off, Taiwan stressed development of the high-tech sector. Today, Taiwan is the world's foremost manufacturer of mobile phones, desktop computers, and laptop computers. The two leaders also discussed education-related topics. President Ma stressed that Taiwan lacks natural resources. As a result, its development has had to rely on highly qualified human resources. These human resources are the product of the heavy emphasis placed on education by the government and people of Taiwan. The president said Taiwan is pleased to share these experiences with its allies, once again mentioning that he hopes that student exchange programs will foster mutual understanding.
Prime Minister King was accompanied to the Presidential Office in the morning by Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrew Li-Yan Hsia and ROC Ambassador to Saint Lucia Tom Chou and Mrs. Chou. Also in attendance was National Security Council Secretary-General Su Chi.