Philipsburg:--- Leader of Government William Marlin at Wednesday’s press briefing said he met R.C Wu from the Embassy of China in St. Kitts. Marlin said both of these meetings were interesting since the consul of China is very much interested in trade mission on St. Maarten. The island leader of government said Wu is interested in featuring products from Taiwan to St. Maarten.
Marlin said Wu indicated that already St. Maarten has several products that are made in Taiwan on their shelves but they are interested in coordinating a trade mission to St. Maarten from Miami with companies that manufacture their goods in Taiwan. Marlin said these people believe that St. Maarten provides an excellent possibility for a hub between Miami and the rest of the Caribbean. He said St. Maarten is centrally located and also has the necessary facilities in place including the harbour.
Marlin said Wu also spoke of introducing a certain technology, which would cater to modern day farming and agriculture. He said St. Maarten has the same issues that Taiwan has regarding land space for farming and they have created ways to farm.
The only challenge that St. Maarten would have to sort out to have this technology introduced is water availability. He said once this is solved the consul is willing to provide the technical assistance which would allow St. Maarten to branch off in the modern farming business.
Another aspect that was discussed is for St. Maarten is to look at the Chinese market regarding tourism. Even though China is far away there are people that travel, a lot and they do have a lot of experience in the hospitality trade, which they would also want to share. The parties he said also discussed improving the internet services, which would assist in diversifying the economy they would need good communication services.