Dr. Kenrick Williams is Taiwan’s Distinguished Alumni Awardee

The Taiwanese Embassy has awarded its Distinguished Alumni Award to C.E.O. in the Ministry in the Sustainable Development, Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management, Doctor Kenrick Williams. Williams was nominated earlier this year, having studied in Taiwan for six years, obtaining both a master’s degree and a PhD. He had been instrumental in exchange programs in Taiwan. Today, during a closing ceremony held in Belmopan, the Taiwanese ambassador to Belize announced that Doctor Williams was successfully chosen as one of ten awardees worldwide.  Williams spoke about the honour in receiving the award.

Kenrick Williams

Dr. Kenrick Williams, Taiwan’s Distinguished Alumni Awardee

“I was selected as one of these distinguished alumni and so it is indeed an honour to be selected. But as I indicated in this brief ceremony that the partnership between Belize and Taiwan, the level of development, the trajectory of development, the story of development in Taiwan is something that we see the opportunities in Belize and through my position at the ministry, we’ve had the opportunities then to build the relationship, to share the stories of Belize and Taiwan and then to support some of these opportunities and address and build some of those opportunities in Belize. For me, being in Taiwan was part of being an ambassador for Belize and then coming back is being that ambassador and support for Taiwan. We, first group of Belizean students who established the Belize association of students in Taiwan to really help to build a space for Belizeans to engage, share the culture, the experience of Belize, but also to learn opportunities. We had spaces where we brought in the students who were doing various research and share that information among Belizeans because there are several students in Taiwan who are doing research on Belize on important topics. So we started to build those spaces. I also worked with the global talent entrepreneur association in Taiwan and was exposed to a lot of the businesses, the private sector and some of the work they were doing there in Taiwan. We build some collaboration with the University of Belize, with the youth mentorship program at the time and so I really tried to build and be a individual member is actively building that relationship between the two countries.”