BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – GUESTS at Wednesday’s (July 18’12) Breakfast Meeting of the Rotary Club of Liamuiga were Taiwan’s Resident Ambassador His Excellency Miguel Tsao and Mrs. Tsao. The Ambassador was also the guest speaker and related many significant facts about Taiwan and the relationship between Taiwan and St. Kitts.
In a warm and cordial atmosphere the Ambassador was introduced to the gathering by past president Peter Jenkins who welcomed the couple on behalf of Rotary Liamuiga, humourously indicating that this was his most important posting thus far and wished him a ‘long as ever’ stay in the Federation.
The Ambassador in turn acknowledged that he was indeed fortunate to be here and revealed that a St. Kitts and Nevis overseas posting was a sought-after choice by many diplomats in Taiwan.
He noted that St. Kitts Nevis was their ‘gateway’ to the Caribbean, recalling that St. Kitts Nevis in 1983 was the first Caribbean country to which Taiwan was invited to set up diplomatic relations. It had therefore become the “springboard” for Taiwan in these parts.
Indeed St. Kitts and Nevis had become one the their most important partners internationally, he reported.
After extolling on the many positives St. Kitts represented in terms of its beauty and importance as a tourist destination, he went on to give a comprehensive overview of the highlights of the Republic of China on Taiwan in relation to its economic progress.
He surprised many when he informed that Taiwan manufactured 92% of the laptop computers in the world. So much so that ROC, Taiwan (which usually means Republic of China on Taiwan) had also come to mean Republic of Computers, Taiwan.
He revealed that other important products or exports for which Taiwan had become known were Bicycles, Orchids, Yachts and Renewable Energy.
Noting that over the years since 1983 the St. Kitts Nevis/Taiwan relationship had grown, he outlined the many projects that were being developed among which he named Agro-business, Scholarships, Laptop donations, Renewable Energy and the lighting of the Kim Collins Highway.
As a result of the Federation’s students learning the language of Taiwan and the visits of varied Taiwanese groups, it was envisioned that this would result in the merger of two cultures.
With regard to Tourism, his Excellency informed that approximately ten million Taiwanese go abroad each year and he reminded the Rotarians at the meeting that if they were looking at the Chinese market, they must remember that they have friends here at the Embassy.
To round off his overview of Taiwan and its progress, the Ambassador showed videos depicting the music, culture, cuisine and geographical beauty of Taiwan.
Dr. Ismay Taylor, in expressing the vote of thanks, said they had listened to one of the most “thoughtful addresses” given at their Breakfast Meetings and thanked him for his “desire and willingness” to continue to partner with St. Kitts and Nevis to eliminate some of our “shortcomings”.
To mark the appreciation of the invitation, Ambassador Tsao presented Rotary Liamuiga wih a laptop computer and Rotary Liamuiga in turn presented the Ambassador with appropriate gift tokens of appreciation for his acceptance of the invitation.
