H.E. Douglas Shen, Ambassador of the Republic of China (Taiwan) to Saint Lucia, along with Honourable Stephenson King, Minister for Infrastructure, Ports, Energy and Labour, and Honourable Dominic Fedee, Minister with responsibility for Tourism, Information and Broadcasting, officially launched the Government Island-Wide Network Project (GINet) on May 2 at Canaries. Also in attendance at the ceremony were Senator Honourable Hermangild Francis, Minister for Home Affairs, Justice and National Security, Cabinet Secretary Benjamin Emmanuel and distinguished officials from the government.
Ambassador Shen said in his remarks that the Government of Taiwan cooperated with Saint Lucian Government to implement the GINet Project with the aim to reduce information gap between rural and urban areas; under this initiative a wireless internet backbone was completed and 63 Wi-Fi hotspots were installed in mostly rural areas, providing local people with free Wi-Fi access.
Ambassador Shen also pointed out that in the past few years, Taiwan had completed several ICT projects in Saint Lucia, assisting relevant government departments to upgrade their computer management systems for civil registry, agricultural monitoring, electronic official documents, and crime prevention. He looked forward to more projects to be done in the interest of Saint Lucian people.
Minister King and Minister Fedee both extended their gratitude to Taiwan for its long-term friendship, emphasizing the grassroots effects of the bilateral cooperation projects, in particular the Constituency Development Project and the ICT programs. They were confident that local business and tourism industry would receive valuable boost with the full implementation of the GINet Project later this year.
The GINet is an Island-wide internet access improvement initiative which seeks to bridge the digital divide and to provide local and wireless network areas in public zones of towns and villages across Saint Lucia. This Project took 4 years, established 63 Wi-Fi hot spots among 5 administrative districts in Saint Lucia.
Ambassador Shen in his remark
(L to R: Project Manager Karen Kuo, Minister Hermangild Francis, Ambassador Douglas Shen, Permanent Secretary Esther Bousquet , Minister Dominic Fedee, Cabinet Secretary Benjamin Emmanuel and Minister Stephenson King)
Ambassador Shen cut ribbon with Minister King and Minister Fedee
