The Government of Saint Lucia, last Thursday, opened an embassy in Taiwan—the Carib­bean country’s first in Asia, in an effort to strengthen bilateral ties.

The inauguration ceremony was presided over by Saint Lucia Prime Minister Dr. Kenny D. Anthony, and attended by Saint Lucia’s Minister for External Affairs, International Trade and Civ­il Aviation Alva Baptiste, Permanent Representative of Saint Lucia to the United Nations Menissa Rambally, and other St. Lucian officials. Also present were Taiwan’s For­eign Minister David Lin, Taiwan’s ambassador to Saint Lucia James Chang and other Taiwanese foreign affairs officials.

During his visit, Dr. Anthony met with Taiwan Presi­dent Ma Ying-jieu to whom he stressed Saint Lucia’s apprecia­tion for all the support received from Taiwan. He also thanked the Taiwan President for the con­tinuous funding of the Constituency Development Program (CDP), which has provided thousands of jobs across all 17 constituencies in Saint Lucia.

The Prime Minister also visited with Saint Lucian students in Taiwan.

The Republic of China and the island of Saint Lucia have maintained close cooperation in public health, education, infrastruc­ture and culture since the two coun­tries resumed diplomatic relations in 2007.