President Ma Ying-jeou met on the morning of July 26 with St. Vincent and the Grenadines Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Consumer Affairs Douglas Slater. In addition to extending a cordial welcome to Foreign Minister Slater on his visit to Taiwan, the president also expressed his desire to see a deeper cooperative relationship between the two countries.
In remarks, the president stated that this marks Foreign Minister Slater's first visit to Taiwan since being appointed as foreign minister in December 2010, and his trip bears important significance for bilateral relations. President Ma commented that Foreign Minister Slater, as a physician, is quite familiar with international health issues. In the past, he supported Taiwan's efforts to participate in the work of the World Health Organization. He has also advocated participation for Taiwan in the International Civil Aviation Organization and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change , which the president said the ROC will always remember.
President Ma stated that since taking office he has promoted a policy of "viable diplomacy" and embraced the principles of "seeking proper goals, acting lawfully, and exercising effective administration " in the conduct of foreign aid policy. These policies have yielded benefits by promoting stability in the ROC's diplomatic alliances, and by bolstering Taiwan's substantive relations with countries with which the ROC does not maintain formal diplomatic ties.
In discussing bilateral cooperation and interaction, the president noted that the ROC and St. Vincent and the Grenadines have continued to promote cooperative projects over the course of the 31 years since establishing formal ties. President Ma pointed to education as one example, remarking that 30 students from the Caribbean nation presently are sponsored by “Taiwan Scholarships” and studying in degree programs in Taiwan. There will be six more students coming to Taiwan this year. The ROC, he stated, also continues to provide scholarships to students from St. Vincent and the Grenadines through its Human Resources Development Project Scholarship Program , with the ROC having provided assistance to over 4,000 students in that nation to complete their studies. In addition, the ROC has assisted St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the completion of the Taiwan-St. Vincent and the Grenadines Friendship Bridge , a national library, and regional learning resource centers. Presently, the ROC is helping to construct a terminal at the Argyle International Airport , he said, furthermore commenting that the public of St. Vincent and the Grenadines will benefit once these projects are completed.
Minister Slater and Permanent Secretary Andreas Wickham visited the Presidential Office in the morning to meet President Ma. Also attending the meeting were National Security Council Advisor Philip Y. M. Yang (楊永明) and Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Simon Shen-Yeaw Ko (柯森耀) .