Taiwan is top sponsor of First Lady's Caribbean summit, but total cost undisclosed
The government has thanked Taiwan's embassy for its backing of this week's Fostering the Future Together summit at the St Kitts Marriott, without saying how much Taipei gave or what the event will cost.
BASSETERRE, St Kitts. The Embassy of the Republic of China (Taiwan) is the leading sponsor of a two day regional summit on children and technology being hosted by First Lady Diani Prince-Drew, the government has confirmed, but neither the size of the contribution nor the overall cost of the event has been made public.
In a statement released over the weekend, the government thanked the embassy for giving at the highest sponsorship level to Fostering the Future Together: The Caribbean Summit. A cheque was handed over at the embassy on 5 November in the presence of Mrs Prince-Drew, Cabinet Secretary Dr Marcus Natta, Ambassador Edward Tao and Deputy Counsellor Ken Yang. The amount was not disclosed.
The summit runs on 13 and 14 November at the St Kitts Marriott Beach Resort in Frigate Bay under the theme Empowering Caribbean Children for the Digital Age. The government says it will bring together the spouses of Caribbean leaders, ministers, experts, private sector partners and young people.
Discussions are to be organised around four pillars: education technology, artificial intelligence in education, online safety and digital literacy. The government says the aim is to prepare young people for a fast changing digital world and strengthen regional cooperation on child protection.
The event forms part of the global Fostering the Future Together initiative led by US First Lady Melania Trump, who announced in September, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, that St Kitts and Nevis would host the Caribbean meeting.
Official announcements about the summit, including a SKNIS release on 2 November, did not say what the event will cost, how much of that will be met from public funds or whether other sponsors are involved. The government also has not said what concrete commitments, if any, it expects the summit to produce for schools in the Federation.
Members of the public with questions about the summit have been directed to a government email address, FTFT@gov.kn.
