Charlestown Nevis (July 21, 2006)
Federation based Ambassador of the Republic of China (Taiwan), His Excellency Mr. John K Liu, on Thursday 20 met and held discussions with newly elected Premier, the Hon Mr. Joseph Parry at his Administration office at Bath Plains.
The Ambassador was the first diplomat to pay courtesy call on Premier Parry, following his recent elections to office as Premier. He was accompanied by his wife and a three-man delegation when he arrived at the Premier’s office.
Speaking to the Government Information Service following the brief discussion, Premier Parry noted that the discussion was fruitful and that they have both indicated that they would continue to work very closely for the development of Nevis.
He noted that the Ambassador spoke about the US$3 million dollars, which he said was a grant of US$1million and a soft loan of US$2 million for the development of a fine arts theatre. “The Ambassador also mentioned the work they have done in agriculture at Cades Bay and that they have indicated an interest in expanding the work there into the area of pineapples, so that farmers can grow pineapples on a commercial basis.”
Accordingly, the diplomat also expressed an interest in setting up an agro centre to process mangoes and different fruits grown on the island. “What has been said to me is that there is such a centre on St. Kitts,” said Mr. Parry. “They have training for farmers. Our farmers can be trained on St. Kitts and a similar centre will be set up on Nevis to do the processing.
“It is my understanding that this can be done very quickly and they have an expert in St. Kitts who can be made available to us and is something we can do over the next year or so.”
“We also discuss the possibilities in terms of community training for our young people to work in the community centres and to work on the island. This is something that we have to explore a little further because these people would have to travel to Taiwan for training,” the Honourable Premier added.
The Ambassador congratulated the Premier on his victory in the polls and presented him with a token of appreciation on behalf of the Republic of China on Taiwan.