Island country
In March 2013, Simeon Bouro became the first resident Solomon Islands Ambassador in Cuba, and the first resident Ambassador for any Pacific Island country of that nation. On that occasion, Simeon Bouro assured Cuba that the Solomon Islands would provide "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 Solomon Islands could benefit from. At the 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.