 Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I wish to support the resolution tabled by the Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Economic Development, the youth economy, justice and national security, to borrow an amount of US $6,276,000 from the special fund resources of the Special Development Fund to support the youth economy project. This loan is also extremely concessionary, Mr. Speaker, with the following terms. A gross period of two years and to be repaid in 92 equal or approximately equal installments, which is 23 years and interest on the loan is at 0.75% per annum on the amount of the loan disbursed and outstanding, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the brainchild of the youth economy is no less than the Prime Minister and member for Cassarises, Mr. Speaker. The vision for the youth economy was clearly articulated in his budget addresses for fiscal years 2022, 2023 and 2023, 2024, in which he stated it was to create an economic space for the youth of St. Lucia. Mr. Speaker, this is not a trivial pillar in the economy. Young people all over the island were tired of hearing politicians saying to them, they will do this and they will do that for them. This St. Lucia Labour Party has a history of accommodating young people at the table of national development as equal and valuable partners. And we are working the talk, Mr. Speaker, by ensuring that we give the young people of this country an opportunity to assist with the growth and development of the youth economy whilst keeping themselves occupied. And I can say to you, Mr. Speaker, instead of youth unemployment climbing like a homesick angel, it will descend like Lucifer from heaven. The Prime Minister further stated that the youth economy was aimed, Mr. Speaker, at transforming hobbies into allowing people an opportunity to be gainfully employed, skills into businesses by providing finance, training, mentorship and marketing support for young people to establish and grow their businesses. This is revolutionary and significant. We never made the excuse that the economy contracted by 24.4% during COVID and so we do not have the resources to invest in them. Whilst the economy is recovering, we are giving the people of this country, the young people an opportunity to take the place responsibly beside others and contribute to national development and nation building. With lightning rapidity, Mr. Speaker, the youth economy agency has been established, and I must say it has been greeted with wild enthusiasm. Since opening its doors on April 3rd, 2023, the youth economy agency has established its programs and facilities to provide much support to the young people of this country. The government has to date injected four million dollars into the youth economy for the provision of soft loans and grants, Mr. Speaker, to young people with interest in music, sports, entertainment, designing the creative economy, cultural activities, the digital economy, arts, agriculture, the blue economy and agro processing. The approach taken by the government is to reduce bureaucracy by establishing the agency and provide financial support to the youth through either soft loans or grants, Mr. Speaker, who would not otherwise qualify for such loans from financial institutions as they would be required to provide collateral in support of these loans. Mr. Speaker, you know the amount of young people that are from vulnerable homes but who are very well-talented and they go to commercial banks and other institutions and they cannot get a loan because their parents could not come up with any popiete to ensure that they access those loans. Well, this is why the party of Sir George F. L. Charles in government, the party of bad justice and freedom, is giving the young people of this country bread, giving them the justice and of course the freedom to break away from poverty and unemployment. The youth economy agency will in particular tend to the special needs of rural and at risk youth, the urban at risk youth, Mr. Speaker, for the integration into the economy and to reduce the high incidence of youth unemployment. Mr. Speaker, we are still reeling from the banana shop. In the 80s, the population of this country was almost evenly distributed. After the demise of the banana industry with the formation of the WTO and the ruling that caused us to lose our preferential access to the UK market, a number of young people became super dislocated laborers. And Mr. Speaker, if you check over time, there is a positive correlation between economic difficulties, a positive correlation between crime and of course the growing dependence on just a small economy without banana money is Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, and this is very significant that in responding to the to the shock, we are not putting our hands up in the air and making false promises to the young people of this country, but actually giving them the opportunity to participate. A review of the website of the youth economy agency, Mr. Speaker, will reveal that the total as the Prime Minister indicated of 189 projects have been funded in the areas of agriculture, arts, production, manufacturing, sports, wellness, services and technology. It is important to note, Mr. Speaker, that the youth are also provided training to build the capacity in developing business proposals and digital skills. And as I talk about digital digital skills, Mr. Speaker, I cannot forget the official policy of the former administration. That was the official policy. And they said the students were taking the laptop and playing music and doing this and doing that and not chemistry and physics. Not all young people are interested in physics and chemistry, Mr. Speaker. You know the amount of young people that were exposed to technology during the time we gave them access to the laptop. Today, they are repairing computers. Today, they are producing music, Mr. Speaker, and today they are properly integrated in the economy of this country. In the area of business planning, Mr. Speaker, the government has a memorandum of understanding with the government of the Republic of China, Taiwan to provide interactive training workshops where participants will learn how to design an effective business plan. The agency provided support for transportation and meals for participants. Upon successful completion of the training, participants are provided with an injection of $5,000 into the businesses. Moreover, Mr. Speaker, we are all aware that digital skills are absolutely important in the digital economy, Mr. Speaker, that we live in today. In this regard, Mr. Speaker, the Commonwealth Secretariat is investing 10,000 scholarships across the Commonwealth in that area. And notably, Mr. Speaker, St. Lucia is the first beneficiary of those scholarships with the provision of 200 scholarships, four solutions for internationally certified training in technology-related fields. This new loan from the Caribbean Development Bank will help to provide increased support to the youth as our government seeks to provide meaningful business opportunities for our youth who would otherwise be unemployed. This loan seeks to boost youth participation and engagement in socially inclusive, gender responsive and environmentally resilient business enterprises in St. Lucia. That's the way to go. That's the way to go. This is why the member for CASIS will continue to be the Prime Minister of this country. He will continue to manage the economy of this country. Great skill and dexterity, Mr. Speaker. St. Lucia needs the member for CASIS East to continue to provide those social services even while he's repairing the economy of this country. He's building sustainable growth and development. The loan facility, which was aimed at 15 to 45-year-olds, will provide a one-stop solution for grant and loan financing, as well as training and mentorship. That is what you call a strategic nexus. Project activities include training for 600 youth in business development, planning, marketing and business management. Additionally, 120 youth will benefit from business mentoring, coaching and financing, both loans and grants, as the Prime Minister accentuated to over 3,000 male and female young people between the ages of 18 to 25 years to support enterprise activities in agriculture, agro processing, manufacturing, retail and the services industries, as well as the blue, green and orange economies. The CDB approved this loan because the CDB's youth policy and operational strategy 2020 is aligned with the project and the objectives of the youth economy. According to Isaac Solomon, CDB's vice president operation, and I quote, youth are the societal building blocks possessing on much levels of innovation, creativity and technological aptitude. And international strategies are still necessary to address the economic participation of the growing youthful population to build on the progress already made. On quote, he further stated and I quote, the provision of concessionary financing to youth led to the creation of employment, expanding the productive sector and positioning MSMEs to contribute to long-term growth will reduce youth disengagement and disinventivise involvement in criminal activity. It will provide a disincentive, Mr. Speaker, to promote gender equality and increase social resilience. The project is to be financed from both the year and the CDB and is to be implemented over 18 months. The loan is offered on highly concessionary terms, as I indicated earlier, with a two-year grace period, 25 years to repay the loan and interest rate of 0.75 per annum. It is expected that the expansion of the economy through the youth economy will enable the country to generate sufficient revenue over the medium to long-term to service the loan repayments. Further and more importantly, the development and expansion of the youth economy will provide an avenue for the youth to engage in meaningful business activities and thus contribute to reducing the high level of youth unemployment. The multiplier effects arising from the youth economy will generate further economic activity, contributing to sustainable, inclusive and resilient growth. I wish to finally point out, Mr. Speaker, that the opposition has been spreading misinformation and lies as it is the strong point, the poisonous of the wellsprings of public opinion. I have heard all numbers being banded about the level of borrowing and the debt. I have heard numbers ranging from one billion dollars to two billion dollars, Mr. Speaker. This propaganda, the lies and the deceit is part of the strategy to try to win again the next elections, like the rough people in 2016, but never again, never again. Mr. Speaker, we are all aware that the authentic statistics, the authentic statistics on public debt is from the economic and social review. Nothing else can be authentic. Nothing else, based on the most recent economic and social review, which is the 2022 report, the official public debt increased from 4.135 billion in 2021, the time during which the UWP was in office to 4.3, 4.395 billion in 2022, an increase of 260 million or 6.3%. During this time, the GDP grew from 4.815 billion in 2021 to 6.23 billion or 1.478 billion dollars or 30.7%. As a result, the public debt to GDP ratio fell from 85.9% to 69.8%. It means, Mr. Speaker, that we are growing the economy at a faster rate than we are borrowing, and we are borrowing at concessionary rates to ensure that the less of our dollar is spent on servicing debt, Mr. Speaker. Borrowing, Mr. Speaker, is important for small island developing states like St. Lucia. It's important to ensure that we can invest in the infrastructure and the people, human resources, to increase economic growth. Now, we have been doing a lot of investment in education. We have been giving laptop programs, the laptops to students via the laptop program. We have been giving education assistance. We have been paying facilities fees. We have been giving scholarships, Mr. Speaker, knowing full well that it is not something that will give both the results just in these five years of the St. Lucia Labour Party. But when you have a well-skilled and educated workforce, it's a necessary incentive to attract foreign direct investment into the country, Mr. Speaker. You become more attractive as an investment destination. And of course, Mr. Speaker, when workforces can produce more efficiently, it keeps inflation at bay and it fuels economic growth. We are going to continue to invest in education because this is the way to go. We do not believe in short termism, Mr. Speaker. No knee-jerk reaction. We must have a plan for the midterm to long term, but we are rescuing this country and we are not making any excuse why we cannot provide the support that alluded to a few moments ago. Our government, Mr. Speaker, will continue to engage in fiscally responsible borrowing that contributes to expanding the economic base of the country and provides the capacity to generate revenues that will enable the country to service its debt. We will not do like the former administration which borrowed extravagantly and for highly questionable projects which did not contribute to the long term growth and development of St. Lucia. In closing, Mr. Speaker, I wish to wholeheartedly give my support to this resolution to borrow US $6,278,000 from the special fund resources of the special development fund from the Caribbean Development Bank to support the youth economy project. Mr. Speaker, I yield the floor.