The Belizean embassy in Taiwan yesterday hosted the inaugural Belize-Taiwan Academic Conference, which is set to be held annually and is aimed at increasing interactions between students and academics from the two countries.
The event, held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, was livestreamed on Facebook, as well as on various media platforms in the Central American country.
In her opening remarks, Belizean Ambassador to Taiwan Candice Pitts said that she had the idea to hold the event after a few months ago meeting Belizean students in Taiwan who wanted to put their knowledge gained in the nation into practice.
Screen grab from THE Central America Trade Office in Taiwan’s Facebook page
“I immediately suggested: Why not organize an academic symposium or conference? This conference, we agreed, would be beneficial not just to students, but to Belize and Taiwan apropos of their bilateral relationship,” she said.
Another driving force behind the event was that the embassy wanted to make a concerted effort to ensure that Belize benefits from the education and training Belizean students receive in Taiwan, she said.
In addition to educating the Belizean public of the benefits of Belizean students’ research and studies in Taiwan, holding the event annually would also help nurture a culture of research, and create more opportunities for cultural exchange and development between the two countries, Pitts said.
The objective for young people receiving a sound education, whether academic or trade-oriented, “is to improve the human condition, and particularly so in Belize,” she said.
Since academic exchanges between the two countries were formalized in 1999 — 10 years after they established diplomatic relations — nearly 500 Belizean students have received Taiwan scholarships, and others have pursued self-financed studies.
Yesterday’s conference was attended by Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Yui (俞大㵢), Ambassador to Belize David Chien (錢冠州), International Cooperation and Development Fund Deputy Secretary General Lee Pai-po (李柏浡) and Belizean Minister of Education Francis Fonseca, among others.
Yui said that believing in the importance of education is engrained in Taiwanese and Belizean societies, adding that the conference is a prime example of educational cooperation between the two countries.
The presence of more than 100 Belizean students on scholarships in Taiwan makes the nation’s academic environment more diverse and stimulates innovative ideas, Yui said.
Among topics discussed at the event were female political leadership, agribusiness and agricultural solutions, national identity, mechanical engineering, healthcare systems, educational challenges and higher education systems.
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