 In March 2013, Solomon Islands Ambassador Simeon Bouro became the first resident ambassador for any Pacific Island country in Cuba.Bouro assured Cuba that the Solomons would "support for Cuba at the United Nations", and expressed the hope that bilateral cooperation would expand "to include sports, engineering, tourism, and agriculture and disaster management - areas [in which Cuba had] vast experience" which the Solomons could benefit from.At that time, there were 98 Solomon Islanders studying medicine in Cuba, and the Cuban government announced it would provide 104 scholarships for Solomon Islands medical students the following year.