Eighteen Gambian students who were granted the International Cooperation Development Fund (ICDF) of Taiwan scholarships left for Taipei on Sunday, to undertake different programmes at various universities in Taiwan.

According to official reports, this year's package include masters programme in clinical medicine, public health, nursing, MBA in technology management, masters programme in information systems and applications, graduate programme in agricultural policy development and management, masters programme in tropical agriculture, industrial engineering and management and business administration.

At a recent orientation held at the Taiwanese Embassy, Ambassador Richard Shih congratulated the students for winning the scholarships, which were awarded to successful applicants after a rigorous assessment of one's academic aptitude and records by a panel at ICDF Headquarters in Taipei.

"This is a great achievement for all of you. It is not easy, but because of your hard work, you were given the scholarships," Ambassador Shih told the students, but emphasized that the credit should be given to President Alhaji Dr Yahya Jammeh, for laying a solid foundation for Gambians to benefit from the scholarship programmes.

"The Gambia and Taiwan are close partners. We live with each other and work with each other," he said.

The ambassador reminded the students of their responsibilities to The Gambia, urging them to work harder and return to the country at the end of their academic programmes in order to contribute more effectively to national development.

He described Taiwan as a beautiful country with a population of 23 million people. Taiwan is approximately three times bigger than The Gambia and 90 per cent of her population lives along the West coast, owing to her geographical realities.