His Excellency Mr. Li Yuanming, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People’s Republic of China

Officials from the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China

Members of the pRe-Selection Committee

staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Our scholarship recipients

Ladies and Gentlemen

Good Morning,

It is my pleasure to be able to join you this morning as we recognize three young Bahamians who have been awarded full scholarships from the Government of The People’s Republic of China to pursue further education in that country.

I am pleased to note that the three recipients of the Chinese Scholarships this year includes two young males and one female. These young people are symbols of hope and inspiration, that we, as a country, do have a great and promising future.

With the establishment of diplomatic relations between The Bahamas and the people’s Republic of China in May of 1997, the Government of the People’s Republic of China, through the China Scholarship council, has awarded full scholarships to Bahamian students to pursue higher education at the Bachelors and Masters Levels in a variety of Fields – From Manufacturing and Design of Clothing and Apparel; Medicine; Marine Transportation, Traditional chinese Medicine, Astrohysics/

astronomy, international business management and marketing.

With the award of these three scholarships today, a total of sixteen (16) Bahamians would have benefitted from this Chinese Scholarship Programme. The first scholarship recipient graduated in 2004 with a master’s degree. We know that this scholarship programme has significantly contributed to the development of the human resource in the Bahamas, and thereby the economic and social wellbeing of this developing country.

This morning we are recognizing the award of scholarships to Mr. Andrew Stewart, in the field of Psychology and International Business, Mr. Clarence Albury., in the field of International Economics and Trade and Ms. Tina Barnett, in the field of Architecture.

I encourage you, scholarship recipients, to take full advantage of this opportunity to learn all that you can, including fluency in the Chinese language; to strive for excellence; and, upon your return, to play a role in the further development of The Bahamas.

I wish to express, on behalf of the people and government of the commonwealth of the Bahamas, my sincere appreciation for the financial assistance that the government of the People’s republic of China has given over the past 10 years, and in particular for this scholarship programme that will allow Bahamians to realize their dreams of higher education, and thereby to contribute to the development of the Bahamas for generations to come.