Forty young ambassadors will visit Taiwan’s Caribbean ally Saint Lucia Sept. 2-11 as part of government efforts to foster mutually beneficial exchanges, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
According to the MOFA, the ambassadors will be accompanied by four WorldSkills Competition Taiwan participants with culinary expertise. The ministry hosted a flag presentation ceremony Aug. 31 in Taipei City to encourage the delegation and send them off with a flourish.
Speaking during the ceremony, Foreign Minister Jaushieh Joseph Wu said that the youth of a country play a key role in its national development and prosperity. He added that each youth ambassador is a representative of Taiwan that acts as a bridge of friendship between their country and Saint Lucia.
Minister of Labor Hsu Ming-chun thanked the MOFA for including the WorldSkills competitors, whose cooking abilities will provide another avenue to strengthen bilateral partnerships with Saint Lucia. The country’s ambassador to Taiwan, Robert Kennedy Lewis, entrusted the delegation to extend his greetings to his fellow Saint Lucians.
Launched in 2009, the International Youth Ambassadors Exchange Program has selected around 1,800 outstanding students to serve as youth ambassadors to Taiwan’s allies and like-minded partners. The initiative is an effective use of soft power that both introduces Taiwan’s creative side to the world and engages the country’s youth in international affairs. (YCH-E)
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