Taiwan Embassy to focus on agriculture for 2009
By VonDez Phipps
Reporter-SKNVibes.com
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Ambassador Rong Chuan Wu
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BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – DURING a recent exclusive interview with SKNVibes, Resident Ambassador of the Republic of China on Taiwan to St. Kitts-Nevis, His Excellency Ambassador Rong Chuan Wu worded his satisfaction with the close diplomatic ties between the two nations and stressed that his country’s focus for this year will be agricultural development.
“For 2009, we have to move our small-scale plant from its Needsmust location and our focus would be on establishing a large scale agricultural zone. We have to urgently concentrate on food production as we believe that the nation’s food security is of highest priority. Last year we focussed on developing infrastructure, paying particular attention to sporting facilities; however next year we will focus on agriculture.
“The country produces only 30% of carrots, 62% of peanuts and only 39% of sweet potatoes of its general consumption. St. Kitts-Nevis spends approximately EC $383 million on imports but only EC $84 million worth of product is exported, which means we rely too much on imports. Our aim then is to increase agricultural production while at the same time make an extra effort to reduce imports. Through this, we should be able to provide at least for local consumption.” ~~Adz:Right~~
Ambassador Wu described 2008 as a period of “mutual benefit” for both countries and said he is very confident that the Asian country will maintain its diplomatic relations with the Federation. Wu also underscored the need to develop human resource through education and training.
“We should also emphasize on the demands for students to get academic scholarships to study in Taiwan. Before, many nationals were doubtful about our scholarship programmes because of fear of having to learn a foreign language. We have selected courses, including Agriculture, Information Technology, Computer Science and Business Studies, that are taught purely in English, so students do not even have to learn Mandarin.”
The Taiwanese Ambassador thanked the Government and people of the Federation of St. Kitts-Nevis for their support in the international community and said he remains “hopeful and grateful” for their continued support in 2009.
Although he did not disclose the details of future projects, he indicated that the Embassy is expecting to launch many more projects this year to strengthen the existing relationship between the two countries.
