Charlestown, Nevis
April 11, 2008
Premier of Nevis the Hon. Joseph Parry said he was very pleased with the assistance that the Nevis Island government had received from Taiwan over the past years. The Premier made the remark in a statement on Thursday, April 10, 2008 at his Bath Plain office.
“I first visited Taiwan back in 1984 just after diplomatic relations were established with St. Kitts and Nevis. We have been very fortunate to have a government like Taiwan. The Taiwanese have made considerable contributions to the Federation of St Kitts and Nevis, but I speak in particular to Nevis.
“They have established an agricultural station here in Nevis which we sorely needed. They have done a lot of work in experimentation in a variety of crops and our farmers have benefited, and we are expecting our farmers to continue to benefit. The Taiwanese have also been involved in offering many scholarships which our people have taken up,” the Premier stated.
Mr. Parry said politicians, civil servants and non-civil servants had travelled to Taiwan and benefited from training. He also pointed out that two Nevisians were currently in Taiwan. He said not only were they competent in the country’s official language but were benefiting from were exposed to study in various disciplines, which included engineering.
He said the Republic of China and Taiwan’s outgoing Ambassador to St. Kitts and Nevis His Excellency Mr. John Lui had offered much assistance in terms of training and his Administration had been contemplating sending more students to Taiwan.
“I must also state that the Taiwanese gave a grant of US$1 million to improve Grove Park and other sporting facilities on the island of Nevis. This grant was given about 3 years ago. The Taiwanese government has also offered a loan of US$2 million to establish the Fine Arts Theatre. Just a few months ago we have re-negotiated that loan and we expect not only to complete the Fine Arts Theater in Charlestown but we expect to do a community center in Charlestown.
” I am also invited to visit Taiwan later this year and take with me a number of projects to discuss with the Taiwanese government. So we are very pleased with the relationship that we have and we hope to continue to build on that relationship,” Premier Parry said.