 Greetings to the business community and my fellow St. Lucia. As Minister for Commerce, I'm elated to launch Business Month 2021 under the theme propelling business development through technology. COVID-19 has had a significant impact on businesses worldwide including St. Lucia and has caused unprecedented challenges to the supply chain. Nothing in our recent past can compare to the disruptions caused by COVID-19, not even interruptions due to natural disasters. However, one can safely say that a business mentality has emerged from this pandemic over the past year. Greater focus on capacity building, the need to formalize business ventures and appreciation of modern technology to conduct business activities. In-person contact has been limited, especially in activities such as purchasing, working and socializing. Enterprises have been forced to conduct businesses via the Internet. Certainly, COVID-19 has fostered the atmosphere for more e-commerce and remote working. As a result of COVID-19, digital engagement levels have increased exponentially to a point where information and communication technology can no longer be characterized as they may support service. But it is now the principal driver in the business ecosystem. Technology is evolving at a pace where one can truly be left behind. It is therefore imperative that our nation, especially our business community, the micro, small and medium enterprises, remain abreast with the technology at our disposal as well as find ways to take full advantage of these opportunities. E-commerce is an important tool for innovation, competitiveness, job creation and growth. It offers use potential for traders, MSMEs and others to expand their market reach and connect with overseas buyers, suppliers and consumers of goods and services. E-commerce was growing at a very fast rate even before COVID-19. UNTAD asserts that in 2019, about 1.5 billion people shopped online. An increase of 7% from 2018. Also, COVID has further accentuated the shift towards e-commerce as people and businesses have gone online to cope with various lockdown measures and travel restrictions. UNTAD estimates that online shopping as a share of global retail sales surged from 14% in 2019 to 17% in 2020. As it relates to St. Lucia, the St. Lucia Medium-Term Economic Development Plan identifies digital development as a driver of economic growth and competitiveness. While the National Competitiveness Agenda highlights digitization of industries and development of a digitally skilled talent pool as key priorities for improving competitiveness. In response, the Ministry of Commerce, in collaboration with the Development Corporation Fund, the DCF of the Organization of the American States, the OAS signed an agreement to introduce inclusive resilience for an effective recovery with a focus on science and technology for the current cycle 2021 to 2024. St. Lucia's components, retooling micro-small and medium-sized enterprises through innovation and technology, give rise to St. Lucia's Digital Enhancement Program. This program is geared at improving access and dissemination of mechanisms, technology and non-technological tools as well as innovation for MSMEs to support the reactivation of our economy while addressing diverse challenges imposed by COVID-19. With regard to the observance of Business Month 2021, the Ministry of Commerce and the St. Lucia Chamber of Commerce have shared a myriad of activities. One of the Chamber's flagship activities, Global Entrepreneurship Week GEW, will be observed in the week of November 8th to the 14th. The Chamber will soon be sharing its calendar of activities in celebration of the week. However, I want to mention that another activity of the Chamber is a Virtual Business Resource Symposium to be held on November 10th. Further, the Ministry of Commerce through its SBDC will be hosting a few timely activities, including one, a workshop called Lean Converse Business Model, which is a business planning workshop on November 3rd to the 5th. And this consists of three half-day sessions. The Lean Converse is a tool that allows persons to present their business plan in one page. And also use that format for presentation of the plan to the financial institutions and other investors. Trainees would also learn how their decisions affect the profitability of the businesses. The second workshop, Business Startup Essentials, will be held on November 17th. This is a half-day workshop and will introduce newly registered clients and startup enterprises to the basics of business operations in St. Lucia, and also guide them through the administrative and other planning aspects of a new business. The third workshop, Design Thinking to Develop a Business Workshop, will be held over nine mornings from November 18th to the 30th. Design Thinking is a user-centered approach that leads to problem-solving and the development of new ideas. It offers practical and interactive exercises of various methods to systematically realize your dream of owning your business. This is in sync with our government's youth economy focus. All workshops will be conducted virtually and we encourage business owners and prospective business owners, especially our youth, to capitalize on these capacity-building tools. So here again, we can see the significant role that technology plays in the scheme of things. Continuing with the theme, Propelling Business Development Through Technology, the 14th annual St. Lucia-Taiwan Partnership Trade Show will culminate activities for Business Month. This trade show will be held at the Grosselay Human Resource Development Center on November 26th and 27th. The Ministry of Commerce in partnership with the Embassy of the Republic of China-Taiwan will showcase a wide range of goods and services which will allow the business community and the general public to experience the best of St. Lucia and the Republic of China-Taiwan in the ICT business solutions and products. This will give St. Lucia the opportunity to showcase its advancement of business through the use of technology. To complement the ongoing Love St. Lucia campaign, the trade show will also feature the launch of one community, one product. The idea of one community, one product was generated from the one village, one product movement, an initiative of the government of Japan that was adopted by the government of Taiwan. The St. Lucia concept envisions empowering communities through sustainable use of local resources to foster local development and poverty reduction. In closing, we have all experienced the impact of technology, whether it is in our daily lives or in our business transactions. Because of this integration, we need to remain committed to the development of technological avenues which would assist our businesses. At this juncture, allow me to take this opportunity to thank the business support organizations and the ICT-related businesses for their role and commitment in strengthening our MSMEs during this challenging COVID-19 era and beyond. Let us remain focused on improving St. Lucia's technological infrastructure for improved competitiveness and viability. I thank you.