 Good morning. Thank you very much for being here this morning, the day after Cannibal celebrations ended. So it's really good to see everybody looking so bright and alive, especially Mr. Jabatis. So thank you very much for being here. I'm actually quite delighted and want to recognize the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance to recognize the senior minister and recognize the Attorney General and of course Mr. Todorov from the TTS Resorts and Sir Dwayne Jabatis legal counsel for TTS Resorts. Today is a very significant day for us. It represents the signing ceremony for the construction of the Grand Hyatt Resort which will be built in Sousel. It's a project which has been for a very long time on the landscape of St. Lucia. Actual first intent for construction started in early 2016 and of course the hotel has undergone its own challenges and revisions and change of developer and of course in 20 July 2021 with the change of government we engage the developers with a view to bring in finality to the discussions on the construction of the resort and for us to be able to establish a very clear pathway to ensure that the resort is built and brings the benefits that we expected to bring to St. Lucia and the south in particular. We commence discussion with the developers and shared our thoughts with them on how some of the outstanding issues that exist can be resolved and to make way for us to move forward. There were issues with the construction of the bypass road. In the last engagement the suggestion was that the government of St. Lucia would have paid for the construction of the bypass road in renegotiating the arrangements. The developers have agreed that they will provide the financing for the construction of the bypass road and we are deeply grateful to them for that acceptance. Of course you would recognize the tremendous financial difficulties that we face at this time so it's a major concession on their part and showed the commitment to St. Lucia as a destination and the willingness to work with us. There were some issues with the rental rates for the Queen's chain and we were able to again come to an agreement where I believe both parties benefit from the arrangement that are put in place. We had extensive discussions on our plans for community tourism and how the result can better link with the community of St. Roselle which as we all know has tremendous potential for community tourism and I think in speaking to the developers they were super excited by how they can work with us to enhance St. Roselle as a community tourism destination and in fact they have shared ideas with us and if I've indicated to us they fully prepared to sit with us to share even more ideas as to how we can develop the community tourism experience in St. Roselle. For me what was probably most exciting was when we had discussions with the Hyatt Corporation discussing the proposed project we met them at Chris in Miami the Caribbean Hotel Resort Summit and they indicated to us that they were really looking forward to the construction of the Grand Hyatt and it is going to be the flagship resort for the hosting of conferences and events in this part of the region. As you know mice is a significant part of the tourism market and they see the Grand Hyatt and they were really excited by the design and what has been proposed for St. Roselle. So we are equally excited and we certainly told them that the government was giving full support to make sure the project goes ahead. We also had discussions with the developer as to the design of the hotel to make sure that the design of the hotel is reflective of the personality of St. Lucia and the personality of St. Roselle and I was able to see some of the latest designs and it would be really really fantastic when the resort opens and it shows in its full glory how it is laid out and their core and the designs would really be a plus for the community in which it is built. So I think we've had some really good discussions with the developer and we're prepared to move forward. But of most critical importance for us is the engagement of the local community. We all know about the sensitivities of the use of our beachfront now. We need to find the right balance between you know preservation and conservation as well as utilization for the development of our country. We know historically there have been issues with various interest groups and we have resolved that we are going to ensure that there's a proper engagement. The developer has agreed to do a social impact assessment which I think is going to commence very shortly where there will be engagement with the local community and to get from them what their views are as to how this hotel can impact them. In the contract that will be signed today the Prime Minister insisted that we include a commitment for public education and engagement with the local community to talk about the result with the community and to let them know how they can benefit and how we can impact them and that's really critical. We cannot be you know building hotels and resorts and leave the communities out of it. We have to show the communities how they can benefit from it. So at the end of the day I think we're very happy with the agreement that we're going to sign today and I want to personally as Minister of Tourism and also for investment thank the developers for their willingness and the accommodation of our numerous requests and I'm certainly happy that we can sign today and formally start the process of you know the execution of the project. So thank you very much Mr Todorov and of course Prime Minister for ensuring that we can reach where we are today. So thank you very much. Ministers it's an honor to be here today and a great pleasure to be back in St. Lucia. It's a pleasure for me each time when I come to your beautiful country. Thank you for all for being here on the day immediately following the carnival. It's an amazing event and please accept my congratulations to all the government that you managed to do it after two years of COVID and the restrictions that all the societies have gone through. It was great to see the people back in the streets and the people enjoying themselves tremendously. I saw it briefly I'm very sorry about it I should plan better the next time. The only thing that I'm that has been in my mind ever since yesterday is how to try to expand this event and then bring it down south especially after the resort hopefully is going to be complete in a couple of years time. This was a great process that we went through together with Dr. Heller and his ministry and I appreciate your support all through it. I'm very happy that we finally managed to find a good compromise on how to proceed. It is our policy as a company. It has always been we do the same things everywhere we work. We are grateful to the community where we have our properties because it is actually the community that has let us do business. So we always insist on working together and it has always been our policy of trying to give back to the community for the support that we will need because regardless I mean a hotel is a living organism. Hospitality is something that needs the people around the resort to be supportive in order to provide the best of the quality for the client. We are very excited about this project. We have been ever since we started it a couple of years ago becoming the new developer of the project. As Dr. Heller rightly put it the project has undergone some changes. There was a change of developer. There was also a change of the management company. I think that Hyatt is a good choice especially nowadays with the development of the management company going more into Malaysia and the stress they put on the Caribbean as a destination worldwide. We have the full support of Hyatt International in this respect. So I'm sure that once we get to the past the signing of the agreements but to the more concrete work we will be able to welcome dignitaries from Hyatt as well to the island so that they can they can prove their commitment to the success of the resort. I'm very excited about the mice and I'm quite happy that we have the support of the government in this respect. This is going to be a change for the image of St. Lucia. So now you boast and rightfully so of being the most romantic destination in the world. I certainly hope that very soon St. Lucia will become a preferred destination for meetings and incentives and this is bringing a new crowd to the island. I'm certain that it's going to be the benefit to the benefit of the country itself. So I'm grateful for our cooperation so far. We will need your support as a government as a country further on in our endeavors. We cannot do it without you so I hope that we will be able to prosper together. Good morning senior minister. Minister for tourism, deputy prime minister, attorney general, council. When I became prime minister and the minister of investment I said to him that I'm not going to sign or proclaim any investment until I'm sure it's going to happen. So it took me it took quite a bit of convincing for me to be here this morning because I wanted to be sure that everything was in place and a few years later I will not be accused of signing things that did not happen. But I met you and I am speaking to you, I'm speaking to you and I'm convinced and I'm very happy and pleased to sign the agreement because I am convinced that something is going to happen. It's going to happen basically for our industry, our tourism industry. I want to thank the minister for being very cautious in what he agreed to because basically the philosophical position of the government is that the benefits of tourism must accrue to as many people as possible and that has found itself into what we call village tourism. And to start in shows there or to continue that process in shows there is very significant shows that is rich in culture it is our is basically the place where there's quite a lot of handicraft and craft very talented people in shows there and to start that start such a hotel in shows there and to add the nice the nice which is meeting the incentives so there's going to be a good fusion between shows there and was there so I'm very happy with that. I'm also convinced speaking to you that we actually will start next year and starting next year is important and ending as you said by the end of 2024-2025 the people of shows there will be very happy for that. There is new you know we are in very trying times and then I'm very happy that this is is is the third investment the food investment in the industry that we are signing on to about to be started and you're also going to start next year and I've tasked the minister to be at least three more so his job is very his job is very demanding and I and I always want a little more from him. So I want to thank you for showing the confidence in Saint Lucia. You will be allowed free rein to run your business. All what the government will do is a government will ensure that the people of Saint Lucia are not disadvantaged but you because we want any investment you want the investor to have a fair return you want a worker to get a fair wage and you want to country the benefit that that is all we ask for. We ask for nothing more. So I look forward to to the the real opening of the result and you said it should happen 2024-25. We're looking forward for that and any any support that you need we know you have to do some some road work. That's why the Ministry of Infrastructure is the senior minister so ensure that he knows what's happening and we can work together. We will have an approach where we will work together to make it happen. Saint Lucia will be pleased because investment is back. We began to see that some some investment happened as I said this is a third project. Two have started and this one we've signed the stages and I'm told like a few more should be happening. So we're very happy the country needs investment. We have an unemployment situation where Saint Lucia have many talented young people who need to work and so and the only way we see the main way is through the private sector and we will create the national incentives, the national environment, the interoperative business, free from interference but all we need is fairness and equity. So I thank you very much and look forward to