 Thank you everybody and welcome to today's handover ceremony for ICT in education and our village tourism program Which form part of our bilateral agreement with Taiwan in terms of support for certain areas in St. Lucia's Development, I would like to start by inviting our ambassador to give an overview of the donation that is taking place today Followed by presentations by the various entities ambassador first of all, I want to express my sincere appreciation for Prime Minister and Kevin's Secretary joined us last week in our National Day reception. That's I seen testimony of St. Lucia's support for Taiwan and as I mentioned before on many occasion Taiwan is committed to work with the government of St. Lucia to achieve a United Nations sustainable development goal. I think today's ceremony is affirmation of our commitment and among all the different sectors impacted by the COVID-19, I seen education is one of the most affected and it's never easy for teachers and students to cope with this change This challenge and I think with the smart classroom fund, we provide some support for the students and the teachers to adapt that impact and Likewise tourism industry is experiencing the most difficult time ever and we are also glad to be able to Strengthen the village tourism promoted by the government of St. Lucia through this village tourism initiative and in Taiwan we also promote similar project, which is one village one product and also emphasize the Benefit contribution of local development to People and also to the economy. I think we will both get through this top time Where is all this Sound policy being implemented. I want to quote from President Tsai Ing-wen's national Day speech that just like everything Taiwan has experienced over the past 71 years hardships have forged our resilience and Challenge have inspired our resolve this pandemic can consolidate a sense of unity among Taiwanese and give us the courage to continue forward and likewise I have witnessed the courage of Solutions facing and fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic. Let's keep moving toward the light. Thank you First, let me apologize on behalf of my minister She suffered a minor injury and I'm wishing her a speedy recovery and she's only able to be here with us this morning But on behalf of the Ministry of Education once again We're here thankful to the government and people of Taiwan for making the Ministry of Education and our strategic initiative our strategic Priority of ICT integrating ICT into education of priority I must thank to the Prime Minister and his team in cabinet for recognizing the importance that ICT plays especially in this current environment and Having ratified our ICT in education policy in 2019 I mean this policy really set the foundation for what we were doing today and for that I most definitely thank the ambassador for making this generous Contribution towards our initiative and it would most definitely support our plans as we look to integrate ICT into education The development of our various smart classrooms will definitely ensure that our students receive the kind of technological Exposure required to allow them to function effectively in this current 21st century. Thank you very much Mr. Ambassador On behalf of the people of ancillary canneries and on behalf of the people of st. Lucia everywhere who have now become business people in the tourism industry in their own right My government is filled with profound thanks to the deep and strong support that you Continue to give to our country whether it's in village tourism agriculture or whether it's in ICT development and Our gratitude really words cannot express our profound appreciation for your country's commitment to our development and I'm sure that the Prime Minister when he speaks will join me in saying that please express our Deepest appreciation to your government and to your people for your continued support to the advancement of st. Lucia The village tourism project is one that is going to revolutionize the industry in st. Lucia In that what it does it revolutionizes the product Gives people more diversity in the places that they can stay And then it also provides an opportunity for small business people in st. Lucia to be able to provide that service what we've had to do is to Look at the issues the gaps and I want to thank the Prime Minister for his vision In first of all reimagining our cooperation agreement we sat I think it was a year or two ago and said that While a lot of our cooperation agreement tended to go in areas of infrastructure That maybe it can have a bigger bang and impact if we also invested in the sporting infrastructure and the tourism infrastructure of the country which is the engine of growth of our economy and I want to thank the Prime Minister for his insight for reimagining how we appropriate those funds and a simple philosophy was underlined that if we Use these funds effectively for sustainable development then we would have lasting change on the lives of the people of our country And so I'm looking at some of the gaps that exist for people to get involved We realize that a small business person with one bedroom Doesn't have incentives and so now with our village tourism initiative that individual now has incentives Available to him as if you were a large hotel We look at the fact that a lot of small businesses have challenges in Accessing credit from lending institutions we had an agreement with the Karakum development fund and We were able to make available to the development bank so that they can be more flexible lending terms To on land to tourism businesses small tourism businesses Which sometimes can be perceived as risky by the traditional lending sources but more importantly is the wide array of technical assistance that we will be giving to these small businesses and They setting up of an entity that will be able to execute management services across the spectrum from interior design to HR development marketing support reservation management and all the Needs that are required to run a successful hotel today. It's now going to be made easier for small tourism businesses To be able to get that support from the overarching body village tourism incorporated so I Am very late it with what's happening and Your contribution no doubt is going to add significant value and I have nothing but thanks to say today So, thank you and thanks to your people in your country again. Thank you It gives me great pleasure once again to stand here as We focus on the development and the building of a new Saint Lucia to see the contribution that Taiwan continues to make in terms of the realization of the full development plan for Saint Lucia While we've come on the heavy criticism sometimes over our approach towards ICT in schools for example While some people felt that just a computer or laptop Handed over to a student Would accomplish What we need in the technology that is required We have a completely different vision where it is the equipping of the schools and the students alike That would meet this objective And not just the equipping of the device But of the curriculum and all of the other material that comes with it the smart classroom initiative is Something that is needed in every school and I think the contribution today of about just a little over five million EC dollars Would go a long way in helping the Ministry of Education To better prepare the schools To have the type of smart classrooms that are required more so to help in the initiative of Having to do a lot of instructions online Students now having to do exams via the computer Rather than necessarily being invigilated in a setting where it's paper Exams that are being done So we see that this initiative is Just another step in the direction of Where we want to be Eventually and while some people speak about smart city our focus is that of a smart country Because we need every sector of St. Lucia to be able to have access to technology Whether in the schools in the business places, I expect eventually even our market vendors Would be able to use the technology to their advantage to advertise their products So that even before I go to the market I can know what product is available for sale at the market and and that is what technology affords Having smart classrooms and allowing our children to be exposed At the earliest stage in their development and education Would help us to realize this Also village tourism as was indicated in our plans That the intention is to start with three of the villages as Models to be replicated Not in the exact manner, but in terms of the uniqueness of each of the villages in St. Lucia So that when a visitor comes to St. Lucia The experience they will have in ancillary would be different from what they have in grozily And because they've been to grozily would not mean that they have experienced everything there is in St. Lucia They would have a different experience in sure sale and library and me could and and that is the idea of Village tourism Really adding to the value of the experience of a visitor in St. Lucia So it will go beyond just visiting the pitons and the sulfur springs But it would be being able to spend a night or two in one of these villages where the facilities The accommodation and everything is up to standard So I applaud the the prime minister and the minister of tourism for the vision that has been laid out for us as a country and to Inspire the people of St. Lucia to begin to believe that we can do much better Than where we are today and once people would come into this Then it is going to be realized the bulk of this expenditure under the village tourism, which is in the region of five million plus Would also go to the village of ancillary where the focus of Village tourism will take a new shape in the village of ancillary part of it will be spent in grozily But the major part of it would be for the village of ancillary Because we look forward to the transformation of this village to improve the livelihood of the people and So ambassador We want to give you the assurance that every dollar that Taiwan makes Available to St. Lucia is put into very good use and will eventually begin to bring returns for the people of St. Lucia to generally improve the lives of all of our people and We are indeed very grateful and we continue to ask of you to convey our sincere thanks and gratitude to the government and people of Taiwan for such a wonderful relationship and for the contributions that have been made and Continues to be made to our development all in all. We thank you and may God bless all of us I'm so really is for me ambassador to to restate my government's Appreciation for the friendship and the partnership that we've established with your country and you've made mention of your 71 years of history and tough times and St. Lucia Shares those Experiences with you and that's why when Sir John first went to Taiwan He wanted to have a relationship with Taiwan because he saw a tremendous amount of similarity in terms of work ethic Values and certainly the strategy you had for developing your country based on Foundation of our culture and this is something that's very similar that we're attempting to do in solution And like what you have done in developing into agro processing and now into the technology industry semiconductors We are also in the process of transitioning so tourism Will be for a very long time a key industry in our country And it's certainly to continue to develop a product that persons would have an appreciation for built on the authenticity And the originality of our our countrymen and the beautiful island that the Lord has given us so To President sigh and also to the minister who I thank you very very much for what you have done and continue to do And to be a reassured of my government my cabinet and also the people of St. Lucia's Support in your endeavors in the world and we're looking forward to having you at the table very soon. Thank you