Following a visit by the Taiwan President to St. Lucia, the governments of the two countries are reviewing ways to promote each other’s strengths in terms of yachting tourism and construction. If formalized, the deal promises to bolster the business of megayacht builders like like Horizon, Ocean Alexander, and Kha Shing, where Hargrave Custom Yachts (whose 114 is pictured above) and Monte Fino projects are built.
Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou visited St. Lucia in mid-August at the invitation of St. Lucia’s prime minister, Kenny Anthony. The two islands have had diplomatic ties for decades. According to various media reports, Anthony wanted to forge even closer ties with Taiwan and draw further attention to St. Lucia’s people and overall strengths, among other things. In turn, Ma promised to promote cultural exchanges and share Taiwan’s experience in developing its infrastructure. They signed a joint communique outlining these goals.
Among those goals, specific to yachting, the government of St. Lucia announced that the two governing bodies may formalize a partnership. Under it, St. Lucia will be promoted as a home port for yachts and megayachts built in Taiwan as well as for Taiwanese marine businesses to market their builds.
“Taiwan is world-renowned as a yacht-building nation, amongst other things, and we believe…we can learn from [Taiwan] in terms of yacht building and maintenance techniques, which are vital for the provision of the ancillary services related to the ever-growing yachting sector,” Lorne Theophilus, St. Lucia’s tourism minister, says, according to the Caribbean Journal newspaper. “Taiwan can also benefit from our increased presence in the world market as a yacht haven and use St. Lucia as a hub to market yachts built in Taiwan.” Theophilus is further quoted as saying, “We propose further that we can offer an incentive registration and berthing of yachts purchased from Taiwan, among a variety of other initiatives which include joint marketing that will result in fiscal benefits for both of us.”
If the proposal is formally adopted, news agencies estimate that it could be worth several billion dollars. The St. Lucia government has already started the process of creating a yacht registration, and it plans to create maritime-training programs at a community college.
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