 St. Lucia has taken a major leap into the future, showcasing the latest avenue for the marketing and promotion of the island as a destination. The Ministry of Tourism, Investment, Creative Industries, Culture and Information partnered recently with the Embassy of Taiwan to host a robot festival which introduced St. Lucia's tourism offerings for virtually details in this report. We're at the Pigeon Island National Landmark where prospective visitors and investors are being treated to an authentic St. Lucia experience. Through the use of technology, a robot named Dabo, this initiative seeks to entice them to make St. Lucia their choice for business or leisure. The robot festival was an interactive, instantaneous exchange between Taiwan and St. Lucia that began with welcome remarks from St. Lucia's Minister for Tourism, Investment, Creative Industries, Culture and Information, Honourable Dr. Ernest Hilaire. Viewers in Taiwan then journeyed virtually through Pigeon Island with stops at the soldiers barracks where they were furnished with facts about the sites rich history. This place is a very special place in the history of St. Lucia. At one time we were one of the most treasured colonies during the colonial wars and this place was a lookout spot to see all the warships that move up and down and for the various naval battles to take place. At one time it was an island and in the 1970s it was connected to our mainland. It is now a place where St. Lucia's go for recreation and for special activities. So in welcoming you to join us, we are welcoming you from a place which is very special in our hearts. Ambassador of Taiwan to St. Lucia, his Excellency Peter Chen was present at the event and explained that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Taiwan conceptualized the event to display the tourism offerings of Taiwan's diplomatic allies. I think Taiwan is a very important partner of St. Lucia's economic development and this time the focus is on tourism industry. Last year we through Caribbean and Pacific region agricultural products and tourism campaign we showcased St. Lucia's products and also tourism but this time we use high tech to approach to showcase the real scenery in St. Lucia and let Taiwanese to feel to have a little sense of the real scenery and the beautiful landscape of St. Lucia. The tour proceeded to a rich showcase of St. Lucia's culture. The Taiwanese contingent enjoyed the sounds of steel pines performed by Shazi music and a vibrant carnival display by high impact promotions featuring island tribe carnival costumes. The Helen Folk Dancers dressed in waft viet performed the quadrille expertly with musical accompaniment by Mamai Lakai. The cultural showcase culminated with a grand masquerade portrayal by Silver Shadow Dancers assisted by the Lapo Cavite drummers. St. Lucia's Minister for Tourism Investment Creative Industries Culture and Information Honorable Dr. Ernest Hiller stated that the technology used by the Taiwanese embassy actually displays future possibilities. It tells us that now through technology you can have live presentations of sights and attraction and to actually project it around the world and I think it's an exciting technology. I mean you would have seen today some of the little challenges in using it but I think it's the early stages of using such technology and such a medium for the promotion and marketing of St. Lucia. So for sure it is something that we will need to look into. I think it will be very exciting to be able to use this technology and this mode of you know of promotion and it really tells us just how much we can expand the promotion of St. Lucia. The robot festival tour moved to Fort Rodney where the Taiwanese audience enjoyed breathtaking panoramic views of the north of the island. St. Lucia's ambassador to Taiwan his Excellency Edwin Laurent while addressing the audience in Taipei, Taiwan encouraged participants to please St. Lucia on their list of places to visit. This session that has been organized by MOFA and TITRA is so very timely. You know what we are seeing today and we're beginning to see is something that is really spectacular. We think I'm not just saying this because that's where we're from but St. Lucia is really the pearl, the prize of the Caribbean. The minister said it, the British and the French were fighting over it. It was a special colony but now it is available to all of you to visit and I'm going to show you that if you can come see us in St. Lucia you will not regret it. We end this exciting showcase in hopes that our friends in Taiwan make St. Lucia their destination of choice. This was a joint initiative between the government of Taiwan and the government of St. Lucia.