After two years of operation (2019-2021), The Embassy of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in Taiwan was on Monday 1st November, 2021, presented with the 75th Anniversary Golden Merchant Award for the Most Outstanding Foreign Embassy by the R.O.C. Chamber of Commerce (ROCCOC). According to the ROCCOC, "…the main purpose of the prize is to encourage and praise…foreign embassies and missions that have long-standing firmly support [ed] Taiwan by strengthening economic and diplomatic measures".
The Awards Ceremony, marked by its pomp and grandeur, was held at the Banquet Hall of The Howard Plaza Hotel and followed by a Gala Dinner. Prior to receipt of the award, a 40 second video capturing the essence of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines’s Embassy in Taiwan was presented and this was followed by the delivery of Ambassador Bowman’s remarks on behalf of her own Embassy and of the Foreign Embassies and Foreign Missions group of awardees.
Ambassador Bowman stated that, "On the eve of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines’s Independence, MOFA’s Vice Minister, H.E. Alexander Yui, referred to the Embassy of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in Taiwan as having been the "missing link" among Taiwan’s diplomatic embassies which had finally opened on the 8th August, 2019, just two years ago. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines has had 40 years of diplomatic relations with Taiwan…
Therefore, this "missing link" embassy has finally been established in order to strengthen the chain of embassies in this democratic country of free enterprise and social responsibility".
She further stated that, "the presentation to us today of this prestigious Golden Merchant Award fortifies and validates the work which we have been doing to enhance the prosperity of our two countries. This award reassures us that our efforts have had an impact in the targeted areas for development. Obviously our efforts are still at an early stage, but I am confident about the sustainability of these efforts because youthful Vincentians are invested in this process and are committed to its continuation.
Two young ladies in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines are the ones who coined the slogan for the 40th Anniversary celebrations of our countries’ bi-lateral relations: Friendship Freedom Prosperity. When young Vincentians who are not even students here in Taiwan are able to capture the essence of the relationship between our countries in this manner; my pride, my gratitude and my confidence in the depth and sustainability of our alliance are reinforced."