Above: St Lucia

By the Caribbean Journal staff

The government of St Lucia has signed an agreement with the government of Taiwan in the area of information and communication technology.

The agreement, which was officially signed by Taiwan and St Lucia on Wednesday, is part of a push by the government to “make strides towards modernizing its operations and processes for increased public access to and availability of services,” according to a release.

“The Cooperation on ICT really extends to three major areas — infrastructural development; e-Government and e-Commerce, and ICT capacity building, education and training,” said Dr James Fletcher, St Lucia’s Minister for the Public Service, Information and Broadcasting. “And it compliments some of the work that is already in train by the government of Saint Lucia and some of it with the government of Taiwan.”

The agreement will span a period of five years, the government said.

ICT development continues be a major stated priority for many countries in the Caribbean, and was a significant talking point at last week’s CARICOM Heads of Government conference in St Vincent and the Grenadines.