ICDF Alumni Society established to improve Taiwan relations

By Ryan Haas
Reporter-SKNVibes.com

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts-MONDAY night (Dec. 22) saw the election of St. Kitts-Nevis’ first International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF) Alumni Society board, which is designed to further relations between the Republic of China on Taiwan and the St. Kitts-Nevis.

Nearly 120 Kittitians and Nevisians who have traveled to Taiwan in the past twenty-five years for training and education were on hand for the special dinner and election ceremony. Among those, twenty-one were nominated and seven were chosen to head the member advisory board for the ICDF Alumni Society.

The Taiwanese Ambassador for St. Kitts-Nevis, His Excellency Rong-chuan Wu, charged the newly elected committee with establishing a time frame for general elections, approving a draft constitution and advancing cooperation between the two nations.

“We have been so fortunate to invite you to Taiwan to experience our style of hospitality and development, [and] we believe that you people understand how to promote the relations between our two countries.

“That is the purpose for us to organize this ICDF alumni society. We believe that this society in the future will become an effective NGO, not only to bridge the people of our two countries but also to bring the advances between our two countries closer and closer,” the Ambassador said.

The diplomat stated that as the relationship between the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of China on Taiwan continues to change, the Alumni Society will be charged with helping Taiwan maintain its status in competition with the mainland.

“The cooperation between Taiwan and St. Kitts-Nevis has evolved from agriculture to ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) and different kinds of programs,” Wu said.
“As you can see on November 7 we were able to convene the first international seminar on e-Government. It was quite successful, and we are very satisfied with the cooperation between our two countries.”

He added that he hoped the Alumni Society would be able to advance other similar programs in ICT and educational cooperation between Taiwan and St. Kitts-Nevis.

According to the ICDF, a maximum of US $2000 will be provided to each country’s Alumni Society annually to assist in administrative and event costs. ~~Adz:Left~~