TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s embassy in St. Lucia hosted a conference on Friday (Aug. 26) as part of the Global Cooperation and Training Framework (GCTF) with partners from the U.S. and St. Lucia.

The theme of the conference was “Pursuing Inclusive and Gender-Equal Recovery: Empowering Women in the Post-Pandemic Era." The aim of the conference was to advance vocational skills training for women in the Caribbean to improve their employment prospects in the post-pandemic world.

The ceremony opened with an address from the Prime Minister of St. Lucia Philip J. Pierre. Keynote speeches were also delivered by the Interior Minister Virginia Albert-Poyotte and by Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs at the U.S. State Department Kerri Hannan.

Additionally, the opening portion of the workshop was co-chaired by the U.S. Ambassador to Barbados and the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States Linda Tagliatela and the Taiwanese Ambassador to St. Lucia Peter Chia-yen Chen.

The event was co-sponsored by Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the American Institute in Taiwan, and the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association. This is the second GCTF conference to be held in the Caribbean region following an event addressing climate change held in St. Kitts and Nevis in 2021.

The GCTF was established on June, 1, 2015 between the U.S. and Taiwan as an international forum to discuss issues of global and regional concern for partner nations. Since then, Japan and Australia have also joined as official partners.

The conference in St. Lucia marks the 50th GCTF international workshop. Since its founding, over 4,500 people from over 100 countries have participated in GCTF events, CNA reported.