BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, NOVEMBER 13TH 2013 (CUOPM) – The new 2013 – 2018 Information Communication Technology (ICT) Agreement between the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis and the Republic of China (Taiwan), illuminates the path towards building the Information Society that will contribute to the transformative process of the local economy.
So says Minister of Information Technology, the Hon. Glen Phillip, who signed the Agreement with Taiwan’s Resident Ambassador, His Excellency Mr. Miguel Tsao in the presence of St. Kitts and Nevis’ Prime Minister the Right Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas and other officials.
Speaking at the signing ceremony at the Embassy of the Republic of China (Taiwan), Minister Phillip noted the Federation and the Caribbean’s firm belief that the strategic planning and deployment of the ICTs will act to re-invigorate Caribbean economies and underpin their efforts to compete as a region within the global economy.
He said adequate focus must be placed on the need to align the next technology development steps to the current and projected socio-economic landscape.
“Our aims for technology enhanced national development are not frenetic but rather seek to contribute to the creation of enabling environments for government, private sector and the general public to confluence towards the enhancement of the quality of life in St. Kitts and Nevis,” said Minister Phillip, who is also Minister of Youth Empowerment, Sports, Telecommunications and Sports.
Minister Phillip said that nationals and citizens must have the highest confidence in the quality of governance provided by the Government of St Kitts and Nevis, and as such the new agreement aims to ensure that efforts to deploy technology enhancements consistently meet the needs of the widest cross section of the Federation.
“The outputs of this agreement seek to impact the quality of life in St. Kitts and Nevis through direct applications of the ICTs in improved and new E-Government systems that increase government efficiency and effectiveness and provide an added medium for citizen-led governance, in a measured and sustainable manner. We also seek to build capacities of our nationals to better realize the service efficiency of new government interfaces while establishing a culture of content creation development directly impacting the global information society of which we are apart,” said Minister Phillip, who expressed gratitude to the Government and people of the Republic of China-Taiwan for their development assistance over the years.
Mr. Phillip restated this Government’s continued commitment to strengthening the strategic friendship between Taiwan and St. Kitts and in the years to come.