TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Caribbean nation of Saint Kitts and Nevis opened a beach park with assistance from Taiwan’s International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF), reports said Wednesday (Dec. 22).

Upon completion the project, located at Pinney’s Beach on the west coast of the island of Nevis, featured a Dec. 19-21 carnival and Taiwan product fair, the Liberty Times reported.

Saint Kitts and Nevis Foreign Minister Mark Brantley, who also serves as premier of Nevis, praised the park as a positive result of the long period of technical cooperation with Taiwan.

Following three years of planning and construction, the Pinney’s Beach Park project was designed to give the country hope following the COVID-19 pandemic and help develop the local tourism industry.

The launch ceremony included 17 local students speaking and singing in Mandarin Chinese, and screenings of three movies from Taiwan. The park features environmentally friendly elements such as recycling, an irrigation system that uses rainwater, and climate control of indoor areas that saves electricity, according to the Liberty Times.

Saint Kitts and Nevis, also known as Saint Christopher and Nevis, is one of Taiwan’s 14 official diplomatic allies, which are mostly small nations in the Caribbean, Latin America, and the Pacific.