Hon. Prime Minister Dr. Baldwin Spencer,

Hon. Minister of Education Dr. Jacqui Quinn-Leandro,

Permanent Secretary of the Prime Minister Office Ms. Paula Frederic-Hunte,

Acting Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ms. Cicely Solomon,

Chairman of the Prime Minister Scholarship Committee Mr. Maurice Merchant,

Recipients of the scholarships and their parents,

Distinguished guests,

Fiends from media,

Good afternoon.

It is my great pleasure to attend today's ceremony of granting the 2012 Chinese government scholarships to students from Antigua and Barbuda, which makes me recall that day of August 8 a year ago. At that day, we granted the Chinese government scholarships to 20 spirited outstanding students from Antigua and Barbuda in the same meeting room. But now they already started their colorful lives in different Chinese cities. Thus I would like to express my feeling with three words at this very moment.

The first word is "congratulation". I would like to congratulate every student here for standing out from many applicants and winning this rare opportunity to study in China. This also marks that since China provided the government scholarships to Antigua and Barbuda in 2007 for the first time, there has already been 85 students in all from Antigua and Barbuda studying in China. In the coming years, you will not only learn expertise in various areas together with your Chinese classmates and access to Chinese which is the native language of world's one fifth population, but also get the chance to find out China's long history and civilization and to witness the current achievements in China's development.

The second word is "welcome". I would like to warmly welcome, on behalf of the Chinese Government and people, all the students here to study in China. Over nearly 30 years after China and Antigua and Barbuda established diplomatic tie, our bilateral relationship continues to deepen, and our bilateral cooperation is fruitful. However, due to a geographical barrier, the civil communication between China and Antigua and Barbuda is relatively lagging. Therefore, you are not only representatives of outstanding students from Antigua and Barbuda, but also envoys of friendship on behalf of Antigua and Barbudan people, which means you will definitely enjoy passion and hospitality of Chinese people. We will do our best to create a friendly environment for you to study and live in China with a view to laying a solid foundation for you to complete study in China smoothly.

The third word I would like to use is "expectation". For every student here who is going to leave his or her family to study in another totally different country, you might inevitably encounter these or those kinds of inconveniences or challenges. However, I hope you will be able to consider and meet these inconveniences or challenges in a right and optimistic manner. I also hope you could take, based on hard work on expertise in various areas and the Chinese language, full advantage of this opportunity of studying in China to find out Chinese history, culture and local customs and practices in a comprehensive and thorough way, and thus to be the window and the bridge for people of both China and Antigua and Barbuda to deepen mutual understanding and friendship.

Last but not the least, I sincerely wish you all the best in studying and living in China, and look forward to that day when you come back after completing your study in China and then make more contribution to national and social development of Antigua and Barbuda.

Thank you.