President Ma Ying-jeou, currently on a visit to allies in South America and the Caribbean on a trip codenamed Project Congratulations and Friendship, on the morning of August 16 St. Lucia time formally commenced his visit to St. Lucia after arriving in the Caribbean nation in the wee hours of August 15.
Early in the day, President Ma, the traveling media corps, and members of St. Lucia's yacht industry met with St. Lucia's Minister for External Affairs, International Trade and Civil Aviation Alva Baptiste and Minister for Tourism, Heritage and the Creative Industries Lorne Theophilus at a breakfast meeting to understand the tourism industry in St. Lucia and prospects for Taiwan's yacht makers to expand into St. Lucia.
The president delivered brief remarks before starting the meal, saying that St. Lucia is home to stunning scenery and kind, sincere people. St. Lucia is a renowned tourist destination that each year attracts over one million tourist arrivals, making it one of the world's top 10 vacation destinations, he commented. He explained that the interaction during this morning's meeting is expected to foster greater understanding of St. Lucia's tourism industry and generate opportunities for the two nations to cooperate in this field.
Shortly after the breakfast meeting, President Ma met with Governor General Dame Pearlette Louisy at Government House (the official residence of the governor general), and later with Prime Minister Kenny Davis Anthony at his residence. During the meetings, both sides exchanged opinions on issues of mutual interest. President Ma and Prime Minister Anthony then signed a joint communiqué on strengthening friendly and cooperative relations between the governments and private sectors of the two nations.
The president then made remarks after the signing of the joint communiqué. He stated that during his discussions with Prime Minister Anthony, he got a deep sense that the ROC and St. Lucia share the basic values of freedom, democracy, the rule of law, and human rights. In particular, Prime Minister Anthony expressed praise and support for Taiwan's active efforts to improve relations between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, and noted the signing of 19 cross-strait agreements, including the Cross-Straits Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement and the Cross-Strait Trade in Services Agreement. He also mentioned President Ma's East China Sea Peace Initiative, which calls on all parties involved in the sovereignty dispute in the East China Sea to shelve the dispute, reduce tension in the area, and resort to peaceful means to resolve the dispute.
During the discussions Prime Minister Anthony brought up the topic of youth employment in St. Lucia. In response, President Ma said that the ROC could utilize its strengths in vocational training to help the youth of St. Lucia acquire job skills. In addition, the president stated, St. Lucia receives abundant sunshine and could thus make greater use of solar power, and the ROC would be very willing to share experience built up in the course of previous solar power projects in Africa, the Pacific islands, and Central America. Solar power projects could include a youth employment focus to help St. Lucia to create more jobs for young people, he commented. President Ma also invited Prime Minister Anthony to visit Taiwan as soon as possible to better understand vocational training projects and the state of Taiwan's solar power industry. He said he believes that this may pave the way to greater cooperation between the two countries in this respect.
President Ma stated that Prime Minister Anthony during their bilateral talks also asked whether there were any areas in which his nation could provide assistance to the ROC. In response, President Ma thanked St. Lucia for speaking on behalf of the ROC in international venues in support for Taiwan's participation in the World Health Organization, and expressed hope that St. Lucia will continue to support participation for Taiwan in the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Thus, the ROC can play a constructive role through meaningful participation in the international community.
Before noon, President Ma delivered an address before a joint sitting of St. Lucia's parliament. The speech was entitled "The Pursuit of Peace and Stability, and Enjoying Co-Prosperity and Mutual Wellbeing."
The president stated that on his way to the parliament he saw many children waving ROC flags, and all along the route he saw flags of the two nations on display, which highlights the close relationship between the governments and peoples of the two nations.
President Ma specially mentioned St. Lucia's national anthem, the lyrics of which state that war fosters decay while peace promotes prosperity. The president noted that in order to promote peace, he instituted a "viable diplomacy" policy immediately upon taking office in 2008. This has not only won the ROC more breathing room in the international community, but also improved cross-strait relations, he said, citing the 19 agreements that have been signed between Taiwan and mainland China. President Ma also mentioned that last year he unveiled his East China Sea Peace Initiative, which helped to provide a foundation for the eventual signing of a fisheries agreement between Taiwan and Japan in April of this year that resolved a 40-year fisheries dispute between the two sides. This highlights that the ROC is a peace-loving nation, and is a substantive example of the nation's willingness to use peaceful means to resolve disputes.
The president commented that the ROC and St. Lucia both love freedom, democracy, and peace. The two countries not only maintain friendly relations, but also engage in close cooperation. Many projects have already yielded practical benefits, he said, in such areas as infrastructure, prevention of the black sigatoka disease that afflicts bananas, creation of the Multi-Channel Data Center, erection of lights at athletic fields, and provision of criminal forensics equipment. Taiwan is also helping to build meat processing factories and renovate St. Jude Hospital. Looking to the future, the ROC government will continue to evaluate the feasibility of investment in St. Lucia, for instance, in the orchid industry, the production of high-end computer products, solar power products, and the yacht industry, which the president said could create more employment opportunities for the youth of St. Lucia.
With respect to the cultivation of human resources, President Ma stated, Prime Minister Anthony previously served as St. Lucia's youngest minister of education and places enormous emphasis on education and training of young people. The president said that the focus on these two areas is no different than that of the ROC, and noted that while St. Lucia has a population of only 170,000 people, it has produced two Nobel Prize recipients. The president pointed out that about 70 students from St. Lucia are now studying in Taiwan, and 14 others have completed their studies and returned home. The ROC, he said, will continue providing scholarships to outstanding students from St. Lucia, and noted that this year the ROC's Ministry of Education has added a post-bachelor M.D. program for international students from diplomatic allies of Taiwan. Students from St. Lucia are the top two among the 34 students admitted to the program, he said, adding that hopefully even more outstanding students from St. Lucia will come to Taiwan to pursue their studies.
President Ma mentioned that St. Lucia each year attracts over 900,000 tourists, some six times its population. In comparison, Taiwan has a population of 23 million people but attracts just 7.31 million tourists, so there is much Taiwan could learn from St. Lucia's successful tourism industry, he said.
President Ma remarked that on this visit he has seen two reasons for St. Lucia's success in attracting tourists, namely, its stunning scenery and its extremely friendly and kindhearted people. Lastly, the president again extended an invitation to Prime Minister Anthony to visit Taiwan, expressing hope that a visit would further solidify the alliance between the two countries.
After the address, House of Assembly Speaker Peter I. Foster provided a copy to President Ma of the resolution passed by the House of Assembly in support for Taiwan's participation in the ICAO and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, thereby expressing St. Lucia's support for participation by the ROC in international organizations.
Among those attending the activity were Senate President Claudius James Francis, House of Assembly Speaker Foster, Prime Minister Anthony, Leader of the Opposition Stephenson King, and members of the ROC delegation including ROC National Security Council Secretary-General Jason C. Yuan (袁健生), Minister of Foreign Affairs David Y. L. Lin (林永樂), Minister of Health and Welfare Wen-Ta Chiu (邱文達), and ROC Ambassador to St. Lucia James C. P. Chang (章計平), and ROC legislators Lai Shyh-Bao (賴士葆), Liao Cheng-Ching (廖正井), Ma Wen-Chun (馬文君), Chen Shu-Huey (陳淑慧).