The 2013 Annual Taiwan Youth Ambassadors summer camp ended yesterday in The Gambia at the Baobab Holiday Resort in Bijilo.
The annual event was aimed at exposing the youth to the cultural values of The Gambia as well as strengthening the bilateral relations between the two countries through cultural encounters.
Speaking at the closing ceremony, H.E. Samuel Chen, Taiwanese Ambassador to The Gambia, congratulated the youth ambassadors for their successful camp.
According to him, programmes of this nature would strengthen bilateral ties between The Gambia and Taiwan.
He reminded participants that as an ambassador, their roles include serving as a bridge of communication between two nations, coordinator of cooperation, promoter of friendship and transmitter of bilateral culture.
For his part, Sulayman O. Njie, deputy permanent secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the Governments of The Gambia and Taiwan have shared strong bilateral relations for several years.
The cordial ties, he said, has prompted strong ties in diverse areas of cooperation between the two governments.
He acknowledged the immense support being rendered to the country in such areas as education, health and agriculture by the Republic of China on Taiwan.
“I would like to extend the government and people of the Gambia’s sincere appreciation and gratitude for the unflinching support the Government of Taiwan continues to render to The Gambia,” he said.
For his part, deputy permanent secretary of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Malang Jarsey, implored on the youth ambassadors to keep networking among themselves and nurture friendship.
Speaking earlier, Jerreh Sanyang, deputy permanent secretary of the Ministry of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology, lauded the efforts of the ROC in developing the human resource base of the country.
The President of the National Union of Gambian Students (NUGS), Yahya W. K. Marong, and the student representative from Taiwan, Daniel, thanked the organizers of the camp for the life-changing experience given to them.
Meanwhile, the camp, which lasted for two weeks, included 35 local students drawn from the University of The Gambia, MDI, GTTI, Hotel Institute and the Gambia College.
