 The Republic of China Taiwan has been offering scholarships to the government and people of St Lucia since 2007, with well over 200 St Lucians accessing tertiary education opportunities across various fields. This year is no different as the embassy and the HRD unit gets up to receive applications for the MOFA, ICDF, and ISHU medical scholarships. Leading the briefing Wednesday morning will post a note from the Taiwanese Embassy and the Human Resource Development Unit of the Department of Education, Innovation, and Vocational Training. They were joined by the ambassador of the Republic of China Taiwan, His Excellency Peter Shen, and Minister for Education, Sustainable Development, Innovation, Science, Technology, and Vocational Training Honorable Sean Edward. His Excellency Peter Shen said that St Lucia's students' academic prowess has been widely tested and acknowledged not only in the Caribbean region, but in Taiwan. He said he hopes that the Taiwanese scholarships continue to illuminate the path for St Lucians who wish to pursue higher education and immerse themselves in a new culture. Taiwanese and St Lucians are the same. We all believe that education brings for tremendous opportunities and I believe that study in Taiwan, a country ranked 12th at the Global Competitiveness Report by World Economic Forum and 4th on Innovative Capability in the IMF World Competitiveness Report will be a transformative and rewarding journey for all of you. Education Minister Honorable Sean Edward expressed gratitude to the government and people of Taiwan for the provision of scholarships over the years and employed prospective students to make the best of the opportunity as these scholarships will not only benefit St Lucia's skilled labour force but who touch lives and families, especially first-generation students who are the first in their household to access and receive tertiary education. But amidst all of the difficulties we've had to navigate as a result of COVID, the Taiwanese government is coming forward and they say to St Lucia, yes we have had our own challenges but we understand what this program does for your country and for your people and so we are coming again in 2022 to make scholarships available. You must always go out there with a mindset that after you have acquired the knowledge that you are mandated and it is a mandate that is born out of patriotism and love for country to come back and serve at the level of the community. Past scholarship holders were present at the briefing to answer questions of prospective candidates and to shed light on what it's like to live and learn in Taiwan. Persons interested in applying for scholarships offered by the Republic of China Taiwan should visit the Government of St Lucia website at www.govt.lc or contact the Human Resource Development Unit at telephone numbers 468-5229 or 468-5230 or email hrd at education.gov.lc From the Communications Unit of the Ministry of Education, Sustainable Development, Innovation, Science, Technology and Vocational Training, I am Daniel Dubois reporting.