 Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I believe it was Socrates who said, and I quote, the highest realms of thought are impossible to reach without first attaining an understanding of compassion. Mr. Speaker, you need no convincing whatsoever that this 2023-2024 appropriation bill is pregnant with compassion. And of course that the member for Labri Oje gives unbridled support to the appropriation bill. Mr. Speaker, after the Prime Minister delivered his address on Tuesday evening, in certain parts of this country, from one end of this country to the next, there was celebration. So the J really and truly is jubilation. Because this appropriation bill is also jump-act with goodies for the people of this country. Another J, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the leader of the Saint Lucia Labour Party and Prime Minister came from a party of bread, justice and freedom. And the J for justice has been introduced in the pages of the appropriation bill. Mr. Speaker, this appropriation bill has all the elements of an excellent budget. Because as the Prime Minister and Minister for Finances budgetary policy statement enunciates a comprehensive set of policies, programs and plans to overcome the financial, economic, social and environmental challenges required to develop a dynamic, innovative, inclusive, competitive and sustainable economy to meet the needs of the current and future generations of Saint Lucia. And this budget obviously can be described as one pregnant with policies that gel together. Another J, Mr. Speaker. You are the man who is judicious in dealing with the business of this country, Mr. Speaker. Another J. And of course, the last one yesterday that my colleagues talked about was jobs. Another J. Now, when a man has presented such a budget, what do you expect from the opposition? They must be jealous. They are jitri. They are jumpy. They are jaded. Mr. Speaker, obviously do not expect them to greet this appropriation bill with music and flowers. Their value system very different to ours. They have always been a government of compassion. A party which believes in giving bread, justice and freedom to the people of this country irrespective of the political allegiance. Because the prime minister knows that he needs to put this economy back on track. Because what we can deliver will always be a function of the economic and financial health of the country. It's just like a home. A father is employed, getting $5,000 a month, taking care of his kids, he can do so much. If he loses his job, Mr. Speaker, and then the children cannot understand that and they continue to demand what they cannot afford, that's something else. Because the people of this country were coming from a period of COVID where in excess of $300 million been given for income support and they were gasping for air and they were sucking salt during that particular period whilst the FFF empire got fat, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the St. Lucia economy has over the past 20 years registered long run average growth of below 2%. And has been plagued by a number of interrelated and interlocking factors including persistent fiscal deficit and high debt, stubborn and persistent structural rigidities in the economy, Mr. Speaker. Major contributors to this development has been the diminishing importance of the banana industry, weak competitiveness, low productivity and an over dependence on the tourism sector. These interrelated factors, Mr. Speaker, have been significantly exacerbated by external shocks including frequent and major fluctuations in energy prices. Other external shocks including financial crisis and more recently the COVID pandemic and the Russian Ukraine war not to mention the planet's greatest existential threat, climate change. The challenges facing the St. Lucia economy, Mr. Speaker while by no means insurmountable are quite complex. Hence these challenges, Mr. Speaker, require careful diagnosis and the crafting of evidence based policies grounded in solid analytical and research work. The policies contained in this budget, Mr. Speaker have been carefully calibrated, Mr. Deputy Speaker to address these ongoing challenges and we are already seeing the benefits from the successful delivery of some of our policies. We unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, have had to manage an economy that was broken, broke, mismanaged and misdirected an unfortunate legacy bequift to us by the former administration led by the leader of the opposition, Mr. Speaker, we continue to hear the opposition peddling on truths indicating that they left behind a song platform for our government. Nothing, Mr. Speaker, is further from the truth, Deputy Speaker, as I will now clearly demonstrate. The practice that trickled on economics which all over the world has been a palpable thing for the past few years which all over the world has been a palpable failure, Mr. Speaker. How can an approach that plunged the economy of this country before Covid in 2019 in a precipice? How could such body of policies provide any type of explanation for the magic in the economy today? How can you use that to predict that the economy would grow, Mr. Speaker? The last report card of the former administration was issued by the International Monetary Fund through its 2022 Article IV consultation. I think we can all agree, Mr. Speaker, that the IMF, Mr. Deputy Speaker, that the IMF is an independent arbiter for the benefit of honorable members, Mr. Speaker, the 2022 IMF Article IV report can be accessed on the website. In this regard, I now turn to the subject of economic policy and I wish to first deal with economic growth, Mr. Speaker. This is what the IMF had to say about the projected growth of St. Lucia. And I quote, output is projected to gradually recover to the pre-pandemic levels by 2024, slowed by the impacts of the war in Ukraine and the tightening of global financial conditions. On quote, the reference for this is page 8 of the IMF report, Mr. Speaker. I recall, Mr. Speaker, the leader of the opposition being very boastful about St. Lucia's economic growth performance of 12.2% in 2021, suggesting as if this was some kind of economic miracle. Mr. Speaker, he portrayed himself as a wizard waving a magic wand to cause this growth performance. What the leader of the opposition failed to say was that the context in which the growth of 12.2% was realized was a massive contraction of 24.4% in 2020, which of course, that level of contraction was largely his doing. Our report card to date, Mr. Speaker, is contained in 2022 economic and social review. St. Lucia's growth performance was by far the best in the OECS and second only to Guyana in Karikam. And we all know, Mr. Speaker, we all know is because Guyana discovered oil. Now, if we still had our coconut oil, we growing even better, you know, Mr. Speaker, but that's one of the show. So as I indicated, only Guyana in Karikam, Mr. Speaker. And you heard right, we grew by 18.1%. This growth performance exceeded the 12.2% in 2021 and was far higher than the ECCU average of 8.9%. The growth rates of other countries in the ECCU as follows Antigone Babuda 8.5% Dominica 5.9% Grenada 5.9% St. Kitch Nives 7.7% and St. Vincent and the Grenadines 5%. We were the only country in the ECCU to record double-jitted growth, Mr. Speaker. The chorus of propaganda being disseminated by the opposition has now been totally and utterly refuted and discredited by the data presented by the statistics department. The reference for this data, Mr. Speaker, is page 10 of the economic and social review. Moreover, Mr. Speaker, this impressive growth rate was achieved despite recording a contraction of 12.6% in the construction sector and was broad-based led by tourism with growth of 58.5%. 9.8% in agriculture 11.4% in manufacturing 19.3% in transport and storage and 33.7% in communication and information services. The reference for this growth rate, Mr. Speaker, is page 91 of the economic and social review. Mr. Speaker, this performance is even more impressive because the IMF predicted that we would recover to pre-COVID levels of GDP by 2024. We have, for all practical purposes, attained pre-COVID levels in 2022. In fact, we are only below the pre-COVID level by 1.1%. This government continues to defy expectations, Mr. Speaker, and to beat all forecasts that were originally predicted by the IMF. Barin any major external shocks, natural disasters and black swan events, we are poised to surpassing the level of real GDP of 2019 in 2023. Mr. Speaker, the member for Shwazel Saltibus. Where has he disappeared to? She will take note that the honorable Philip J. Pierre, Prime Minister and Minister for Finance passed a budget for fiscal year 2022-2023 which coincided with the laudable performance of the economy during that period. Mr. Speaker, the member for Shwazel Saltibus should be reminded that we continued the implementation of the budget for fiscal year 2021-2022 which ended on March 41st 2022. It is therefore bad news Mr. Speaker, for the member for Shwazel Saltibus to give credit to the former administration for the economic performance in 2022. One of the major challenges faced by the government is the extremely weak fiscal position inherited by the former government. The IMF report states on page 6 and I quote the public balance sheet on the significant strain slow revenue recovery and pandemic related spending including front loading capital projects to support the economy led to a budget deficit of 6.5% of GDP in financial year 2021. Despite strong external support from international development partners and limited redemptions from regional security-based financing the government's high financing needs over 2020-2021 resulted in significant cash constraints and build up of overdrafts and a raise of about 4.3% of GDP in financial year 2021. Public debt rose significantly from just above 60 in financial year 2019-96.9% of GDP in financial year 2020 and then remain elevated at 92.2% of GDP in the fiscal year 2021. On quote Mr. Speaker, this is what the IMF had to say about the leader of the oppositions fiscal policies. His policies Mr. Speaker led to the largest buildup of public debt in the OECS rocketing from 60% in fiscal year 2019 to 96.9% in fiscal year 2020 and remain elevated in the fiscal year 2021. This is despite Mr. Speaker receiving substantial external support from the international development partners in his quest to win the general election the former UWP administration sought to frontload capital projects many of which were being conceptualized during the process of project execution illustrating not only the worst practice in project management but poor governance as these projects will hurriedly approve by direct award by the leader of the opposition. These projects included the notorious Rodney Bay four lane project for which the member for Castries enough has disclosed in this honorable house and no designs no designs Mr. Speaker and no designs nor were there any studies done beforehand to show how this supposedly four lane highway would contribute to reliving traffic congestion these types of scandalous wasteful projects are a major drain on the public post this highway I believe may have cost around 20 million dollars Mr. Deputy Speaker money which could have been put to far greater use for the benefit of the citizens of St. Lucia. Mr. Speaker the former administration engage in a litany of such wasteful massively overpriced and inefficient projects the majority of which were granted by direct awards Mr. Speaker Mr. Deputy Speaker Deputy Speaker the same thing led by the extremely competent and principle member for Castries has managed the scarce resources of the state in a manner that ensures economy efficiency and effectiveness so that the people of St. Lucia will benefit and this is what compassion is all about when you use compassion you already compass in which to set your course you are going to deliver bread justice and freedom to the people of this country and God Almighty will give you the courage, wisdom, foresight and vision to do what you must do not only to take our country to a new level of development but also moving into the next general elections with unanimous acclamation return the member for Castries to the levers of power we will not engage in wasteful projects like DSH and the associated unnecessary construction of a new road closing down bosses you agricultural station as well as the view for landfill locker bees playing fields and we will certainly not engage in throwing away money to buy vaccines from a company that is not involved in pharmaceuticals our policies Mr. Speaker are to ensure economy efficiency and effectiveness of government expenditures to ensure that these expenditures have the largest impact on growth and development and more importantly benefit the people of Saint Lucia more broadly Mr. Speaker the farmer government engage in reckless fiscal policy increasing overdrafts and payables to unsustainable levels Mr. Speaker the IMF pronounce a bleak, stack and gloomy outlook had we continue with the failed policies of the former UWP government this is what the IMF said Mr. Speaker and I quote the fiscal outlook presents significant challenges due to high public debt and large refinancing needs assuming no policy changes public debt is projected to stabilize high level near 90% of GDP in the medium term unquote the reference for this is page 8 of the IMF article 4 report Mr. Speaker the UWP government's legacy Mr. Speaker was to leave us with the current policies resulting in public debt stabilizing at 90% of GDP in the medium term when I read this Mr. Speaker or Deputy Speaker I was flabbergasted as a public debt to GDP of 90% in the medium term was clearly put in St. Lucia on a steep fiscal cliff which would seriously jeopardize our prospects for economic growth and development at this juncture Mr. Deputy Speaker I need to respond to an ill-conceived and illogical statement for Shwazel Saltibus I'm happy that he's back he stated that we argued that the loans that were contracted during the COVID pandemic were irresponsible loans Mr. Deputy Speaker the member for Shwazel Saltibus needs to be enlightened what we questioned was not the irresponsibility of the loans but the utilization of those loans which were disbursed to benefit a select few in the country we questioned the utilization of these loan funds which were being disbursed to the FFF with little benefit to the people who at the time were suffering and not benefiting from these funds which were intended to provide relief to the people of St. Lucia Mr. Speaker we have again defied the IMF's forecast which I must repeat were based on the former administration's policies the record on the public debt showed that our government led by the prime minister and minister for finance a competent and astute economies has taken the public debt to GDP down the steep fiscal cliff of 85.9% in 2021 to a plateau of 69.8% in 2022 this performance is outstanding Mr. Speaker by any measure our public debt to GDP ratio has fallen by a record 16.1% this again represents the steepest decline in the ECCU countries and compares favorably with the ECCU average of 75.5% of GDP moreover Mr. Speaker that service to current revenue which shows how much of our revenue is used to pay our debt fell from 29.3% to 24.5% this performance is even more impressive Mr. Speaker when one considers that we were confronted with strong headwinds from the external environment including higher oil prices higher inflation so it was not just COVID Mr. Speaker it was higher oil prices higher inflation and higher interest rates so Mr. Speaker we have a leader with a clear and practical understanding of economics and finance this goes to show Mr. Speaker that we have a minister of finance who is a competent responsible and astute policy practitioner who understands how to carefully balance the goals of fiscal discipline with sustainable inclusive and efficient growth our fiscal policies Mr. Speaker have been gained to providing relief to the lower income groups who have been most disadvantaged by the current external economic environment the restructuring of the income tax regime which takes effect this year and results in an additional 15,000 people paying no income taxes and will help support these individuals in coping with the increase in the cost of living pregnant with compassion Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker we will not engage in irresponsible fiscal policy that are disjointed ad hoc and irresponsible like the reduction of the value added tax from 15% to 12.5% resulting in massive hemorrhaging of our revenues estimated at 60 million dollars per annum with little or no benefit to the people of St. Lucia Mr. Speaker when the member for V4 South introduced that a number of items was zero rated or exempted so whether you take that from 20% to 0% they already had zero Mr. Speaker and so it was just trying to be forked some common sense of the people of this country Mr. Speaker the fiscal policies practiced by our government will continue to be responsible discipline and get to recreating fiscal space which sadly became a black hole with the policies of the last administration Mr. Speaker so that we can provide more resources for critical public services including national security health and education we will not however rest Mr. Speaker as there is much work to be done as we need to forge ahead to fully restructure the economy of St. Lucia improving productivity, competitiveness and dynamism and providing the necessary social and human resources to improve the lives of the people of this country so Mr. Speaker despite the fact that when we got into office last year we had a year before us we had a mess in the economy the member of the castries did not practice austerity because we found people suffering in this country he delivered the largest budget in the history of this country and yet still was able to balance the clutch and the gas Mr. Speaker to ensure that we have this impressive performance whilst delivering to the people of this country Mr. Speaker we have started the journey of addressing the major fundamental challenges affecting St. Lucia we will not pay lip service like the former administration who wanted to build a new St. Lucia a new St. Lucia by forgetting the old St. Lucia and implementing what I have called fast food policies that were grounded in political expediency, poor governance and unnecessary extravagance the prime minister and minister for finance has articulated his investment priorities in this year's budget estimates and in his budgetary policy statement I am sure all of us in this Honorable House will be happy to hear that the St. Jude project has recommenced our government after you in all of the options based on technical and financial considerations took a reasoned decision to complete the original St. Jude project Mr. Speaker we did not do like the former government which commission a one million dollar technical audit and then decided to ignore the recommendation and commenced the construction of a new building without any basis and which to date has cost the taxpayer in excess of $118 million and requires almost as much as that amount to complete it this Mr. Speaker is a total waste of resources, money which could have been used elsewhere to develop the country Mr. Speaker our government has also reviewed the options for the airport project in terms of size, scope and cost and will take cost control measures to reduce the significant cost over runs that have already been incurred on this project these two major projects when completed Mr. Speaker will contribute significantly to the development of the south of the island we need to be reminded Mr. Speaker that both projects would have been completed had we remain in office in 2016 to 2021 however the former administration decided based on fallacious reasoning to pursue different approaches cost in the taxpayer millions of dollars in excess of the original project cost our government will continue to pursue a well developed public sector investment program that is consistent with our development goals as expressed in our manifesto and to continue to ensure that the citizens of this country get the best value for money our government understands the need to develop a vibrant private sector and we will put in place the enabling environment to stimulate both foreign and local private investment in this country we will to the extent possible remove the impediments constraining private sector investment we will also honour agreements made with prospective investors unlike again the former administration which reneg on the agreement with range and was forced to pay millions of valuable taxpayer dollars as compensation to range it is well known Mr. Speaker that the major source of growth and dynamism in the private sector is the micro small and medium enterprises sector or the MSME sector as it is known the sector has tremendous potential for creating jobs and opportunities for existing and new businesses we are going to continue to carry out a sustained assault on unemployment by having the people of this country to be active participants in the development of the country our government will continue to provide support for this sector and in this regard the government recently implemented a new MSME facility which will be managed by the ministry of commerce manufacturing business development cooperatives and consumer affairs and the Saint Lucia Development Bank will be the disbursement agency this is an EC 10 million dollar loan facility aimed at providing post covid pandemic relief to registered MSMEs it is a 70% grant and 30% loan funding with a concessionary interest rate of 3% per annum it is the intention of our government to continue to provide support to this very important sector as you know Mr. Speaker the results from that will not be a product of spontaneous combustion it will take time it has a certain gestation period before it gives birth to results but I know at some point in the future I know that over the next 8 years as Prime Minister of this country the member for Kastris East will take us to the Prime Islam Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker we need to address as a matter of priority the long term structural rigidities in the economy to improve financial, economic and physical resilience and thereby improve the long term productivity of the economy available research indicates that there are skills mismatches in the labour market and points to the need to invest more resources in relevant education that is aligned with the economic priorities of the government since assuming office Mr. Speaker the unemployment rate has continued to fall based on the labour market data from the statistics department and this can be accessed Mr. Speaker in the following website and it was on the screen on the official labour department website and you will get historical data the unemployment rate reached a high of 24% in the second quarter of 2020 and then averaged just over 23% in the first three quarters of 2021 in the last quarter of 2021 the unemployment rate dropped to 19.6% and continued to drop in 2022 falling to 16% in the first quarter of 2022 this is the lowest unemployment rate recorded over the last 10 years and then increasing to 17.5% in the second quarter of 2022 overall Mr. Speaker the average annual unemployment rate fell from 21.9% in 2021 16.5% in 2022 representing a reduction of 5.4% points moreover Mr. Speaker the number of employed individuals is estimated to have peaked in the last quarter of 2022 at 91,270 encouragingly youth unemployment has fallen from 37% in 2021 to 26.9% in 2022 the available data presented in the economic and social review on page 10 shows that this was the lowest youth unemployment rate over the period 2010-2023 these are no insignificant set of data this favorable number suggests that our policies are already working and the declining unemployment rate are definitely in keeping with other studies in this country for example a report by the Chamber of Commerce notwithstanding this impressive performance Mr. Speaker our party continues to implement appropriate measures to reduce unemployment to reach a longer term target of below 10% our policies to achieve this challenging target requires a number of focus policy interventions which our government has already started Mr. Speaker and therefore Mr. Speaker at this juncture irrespective of which party one support you must salute the minister for finance and prime minister for a job well done and when we reach out and we look at education we need to target the education sector and increase the transition rate from secondary to tertiary education working towards our long term goal of having a university graduate in every family in St. Lucia what will happen Mr. Speaker as we place more emphasis on education where more of the secondary school graduates go to tertiary institution it will reduce the rate at which they are going to enter the labor market and they will not be counted among the unemployed so therefore when you look at the overall handling of unemployment and of course economic growth we will create a much improved framework Mr. Speaker it is important to note Mr. Speaker that a review of the labor market data would reveal that many unemployed are people with little or no educational qualifications the majority of the people with university education are by and large employed and are generally in higher paying jobs the overall impact of increasing the number of university graduates will result in lower unemployment and provide higher paid job employment opportunities resulting in not only higher levels of economic growth but a higher level of GDP per capita my ministry will continue to pursue diplomatic avenues to seek scholarship opportunities for students in St. Lucia to facilitate the improvement in human capital in the country and thereby continue contribute to higher levels of economic growth our overseas foreign service offices will aggressively pursue scholarship opportunities on behalf of our students as we are aware that there are many students who do not have the financial capability to pursue university studies Mr. Speaker another important plank of our government's economic strategy is the implementation of the youth economy that most of my colleagues accentuated the youth economy was recently launched and from all indications it is an initiative that has received tremendous support from the youth young people in my constituency are saying to me this is the first time in the history of this country that the government has considered them to be equal and valuable partners come to the table and sit beside orders and take your place because we need to continue the journey to the promised land as indicated earlier Mr. Speaker youth unemployment is still on a declining trend since our government assumed office is still way too high and it is the intention of our government through the youth economy to provide business opportunities for the young people of St. Blusher our government will also continue as the member for Kastry's North accentuated to pursue the development of the renewable energy sector we need to as a matter of urgency pursue the transition to renewable energy so as to reduce our vulnerabilities to the volatility in oil prices and also reduce the cost of electricity major cost for both businesses and households the final plank of our economic strategy I would like to touch on Mr. Speaker is the need for economy to become more diversified St. Blusher currently ranks among the least diversified countries in the region and our government has recognized the need for developing sectors with in particular potential for export growth including agro processing and the creatives I would also like to mention export St. Blusher which is playing a vital role in our export diversification strategy through helping businesses to market the products and taking market intelligence it is clear Mr. Speaker that the prime minister for finance the prime minister and minister for finance has developed a comprehensive suite of policies projects and programs for the holistic development of St. Blusher it is clear Mr. Speaker that the dashboard of indicators are all moving in the right direction and our government is bringing back trust and confidence to the governance of this country the country is being led and managed by an extremely astute and competent economies and our government will continue to provide effective stewardship of the government's resources and to pursue the right economic social and environmental policies and programs to develop an inclusive sustainable and dynamic St. Blusher and Mr. Speaker at this juncture it is quite fitting to speak to the role of my ministry in creating an improved framework for us to match our basic need with greater possibilities I speak of the ministry of external affairs international trade civil aviation and diaspora affairs the ministry that have been assigned by the prime minister when you look at the contemporary global political environment Mr. Speaker I have often said in this house it is pregnant with the seeds of our country's continued marginalization but Mr. Speaker despite the difficulties of the moment to advance the work of the ministry and government and people of St. Blusher resident in the ministry of external affairs international trade civil aviation and diaspora affairs is a cadre of well-qualified and highly motivated public offices in all the departments they always work assiduously towards fulfilling the mandate of the ministry and at this juncture Mr. Speaker I wish to salute my staff for working most times on the very trying circumstances which includes surveying multiple spheres simultaneously with limited resources Mr. Speaker contrary to the propaganda of many that the ministry of external affairs and government spends more on us than major ministries beneath the rubble of this propaganda is the truth that our ministry operates on a very small budget Mr. Speaker by way of example in this year's estimates of revenue and expenditure on page Roman numeral 6 summary of total expenditure the ministry of education for example which is the big ministry that they say we get more money than has 200 a total of 242 million 677,700 the ministry of health wellness and elderly affairs 186 million 448,500 our ministry has a total budget Mr. Speaker I'm even afraid to say what it is 29,800 and 12,300 my ministry allocation goes in the ministry of education budget almost 8 times and that of the ministry of health 6.3 times now a portion of that 29 million dollars over a million is to renovate a government asset in Washington and of course a very big chunk in excess of 5 million is to pay for regional and international organizations that we belong to and the Kakadendas left Mr. Speaker that you need a microscope to see it is what is being utilized to take care of my ministry and the missions Mr. Speaker so I want to get that clear but whilst we are not getting a tremendous amount of resources we are helping the country in realizing some fundamental objectives and in the tireless dispatch of its mandate the ministry of external affairs civil aviation and diaspora affairs continues to facilitate an advanced development cooperation at both the multilateral and bilateral levels in this regard the ministry's efforts have been tremendous indeed over the year in review and I just want to give you an addon rate we have facilitated an advance an increasing quantum of development cooperation with more friendly governments now I'm just giving a sample because you don't have to draw all the blood from the human body to actually test for hemoglobin take a little sample so I'm just going to give you all trailers Mr. Speaker and I'm going to start with Mexico that cooperation has resulted in the implementation of four significant projects the heritage management project to promote national identity create new tourism experiences and reduce unemployment through training policy formulation institutional design and the development of a registry of national heritage assets to a project to conduct biocultural investigations of the Dufen Valley three, a project to strengthen Saint Lucia's capacity to design and update coastal geographic information for better environmental planning to date practitioners from a wide range of local sectors have been trained and exposed to advance mapping techniques you will not hear those things Mr. Speaker four, a project to enhance the availability of water in quantity and quality in one of Saint Lucia's major watersheds with skills acquired under the training component of this project already being implemented by the water resource management agency I go to Japan over the past fiscal year my ministry also facilitated development cooperation with Japan resulting in the signing of a grant agreement valued at over 25 million for improvement works to a zel fish resport and facilitated the fulfillment of protocols and legal requirements for securing an extension to the 37 million Eastern Caribbean dollars grant from the government of Japan to undertake the construction of the recently handed over Kaldisak bridge which have strengthened a crucial piece of infrastructure that is expected to contribute to national economic activity and save properties adjacent to it from the destructive forces of adverse weather phenomena I go to Taiwan Mr. Speaker further 2022-2023 saw the deepening and broadening of cooperation with the Republic of China Taiwan a stongen and failing ally in Saint Lucia's development quest resulting in the implementation of several projects in diverse development areas project grant funding of over 50 million and the signing of the framework agreement on technical cooperation between the government of Saint Lucia and the government of the Republic of China Taiwan Mr. Speaker I have remained quiet during our many sessions in this house but the prime minister recently in accepting support from the Taiwanese administration did indicate publicly that I was dispatched as minister for external affairs in some delicate negotiations to assist the country to assist the fiscal framework of this country and quite a significant number was realized in this regard that will impact every constituency positively in this country the work of the ministry of external affairs we are generally in the engine room my staff are not among those they call cocktail ambassadors we are not those who are masquerading all over the place we work hard Mr. Speaker my protocol officers sometimes only two of them with vehicles breaking down sometimes to ensure that we take dignitaries and orders from the airport to the hotels and back to the airport and during this fiscal year Mr. Speaker we need some vehicles and I know that the minister for finance will understand now we need free in the area of health the ministry of external affairs presided over bilateral cooperation with Brazil and Argentina that realize the supply of large quantities of vaccine along with other medical supplies to fight various critical diseases that threaten the lives of our people including a donation of 12,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine donation of 10,000 doses of tetanus vaccine donation of 6000 doses of polio vaccine donation of large quantity of drugs for the treatment of viral hepatitis just to mention a few Canada bilateral cooperation between Canada has continued with assistance in institutional capacity member for library you have 10 minutes left member for kastri central Mr. Speaker I wish to invoke standing order 3210 to permit the member for library an additional 40 minutes to conclude his presentation I want to remember the question is that standing order 3210 being invoked to allow the member for library an additional 40 40 minutes in which to complete his presentation and I'll put a question as many as of that opinion say aye as many as of a country opinion say no please proceed member thank you very much Mr. Speaker thank you very much my colleagues similar to the last debate I will not abuse your patience is modern sufficient I will manuva within such parameters and probably land way before that time so Mr. Speaker as I was saying with Canada our bilateral cooperation between St. Louis and Canada has continued with assistance in institutional capacity citizen security public sector productivity and trade among the initiatives completed work completion of a five year strategic plan to strengthen the free zone management authorities regulatory framework in order to facilitate significant unsustainable local private sector regional and international participation in goods distribution free zone preparation of a maritime tourism strategy for St. Lucia with a focus on the cruising yachting ferry and pleasure boating sub sectors and related inland services three completion of a human resources audit of the Sir Arthur Lucia Community College and the formulation of recommendations to align the staff in structure of that institution in readiness for university status so Mr. Speaker a number of persons would look at the Ministry of External Affairs and because we do not disembak on American Airlines with a fine gene in our heads when we come from overseas they make the assumption that the Ministry is just a fancy Ministry and people dress nice and go and work but I can say to you that my staff they are very very hardworking and people and they will continue to work hard for the people of this country and for every dollar spent on my Ministry you get a hundred in return France Mr. Speaker a deepening of bilateral relations and the French Department of Matnik was evident over the last year in the crucial area of health we continue to receive hospital to hospital support from one of the main hospitals in Matnik and discussions continue with the aim of establishing a national MOU between the French and Saint Lucia Government Saint Lucia's Consulate General in Matnik in collaboration with the Ministry of Health in Saint Lucia continue to engage the Matnik to find ways of simplifying the process for Saint Lucia citizens requiring medical treatment in the French territory and the prefe of Matnik has indicated his keen interest in finding solutions to improve in the sector from health to citizen security over the past seven months the French Government through the police department in Matnik has partnered with Saint Lucia in the critical area of crime and security the countries have engaged in border patrol exchanges on a frequent basis as well as sensitive crime investigations Matnik has committed to providing training to our police officers and to our investigative and forensics department the training as well as equipment donations to Saint Lucia last fiscal year fell over 100,000 US dollars in addition a recent donation of equipment and other material was made to the Saint Lucia National Forensic Laboratory with an estimated cost of US 22 million dollars in addition there is that exploration of closer trade between the French Antilles and of course Saint Lucia and we have decided to put a working group together so that we can explore those trading arrangements so there is a broad platform for trade economic cooperation, education and cultural exchange resulting from those discussions Mr. Speaker like I said the agreement is to establish technical committees to further explore opportunities in those spectrum of things Venezuela, Mexico as Saint Lucia moves to improve South-South cooperation Kasris has restored and upgraded ties with Alba TCP, Mexico and Venezuela Friendly, mutually respectful and cordial relations were re-established between Saint Lucia and of course Venezuela after the breakdown of previously productive and mutually respectful relations during 2016-2021 accordingly little time was wasted in the re-establishment of the embassy of Venezuela in Saint Lucia Mr. Speaker in New York in the sphere of multilateral diplomacy and engagement Saint Lucia's ambassador to the United Nations the Honorable Menisa Rambali was elected chair of the UN Special Committee on Decolonization during elections held in February of this year and whilst the youth are getting a bad rap young Saint Lucia Giovanni Henry was just last month appointed to the UN Secretary-General's Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change this is a group of 7 young climate leaders who will primarily provide advice and practical recommendations towards accelerating the implementation of the Secretary-General's Climate Action Strategy The Saint Lucia National is one of those 7 young leaders appointed to this group for a 2-year term He is the first from the Caribbean region to serve on this board which seeks to ensure that youth perspectives remain at the heart of climate action at all levels Meanwhile Saint Lucia has launched a campaign for the presidency of the Executive Board of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNESCO Saint Lucia is a candidate on the board but this time the election is to be president of the Executive Board and that election will be held in November 2023 and Saint Lucia given it experience and of course where it is placed I am very optimistic that we will win that particular election Consistent with the foreign policy of this government diplomatic forays were made into Africa with diplomatic relations in the past year of free African countries Additionally diplomatic relations were also established with Tuvalu and Bahrain In the coming weeks we shall take to cabinet a memo for the strategic engagement with the continent of Africa and of course Mr. Speaker as soon as things get better explore the possibility of physical presence on the continent and try to reach new areas of cooperation that will benefit our country create an improved framework for us to match our basic need with greater possibilities The High Commission in the UK as a result of a more active and progressive engagement by Saint Lucia's mission in London, Saint Lucia's High Commission is now a member of the Executive Committee of the Commonwealth Foundation in the UK also Saint Lucia was able to secure the attendance of the Director General of the World Trade Organization as our guest of honour to Saint Lucia's 44th anniversary of independence celebration Further the High Commission has been engaging with universities and higher educational establishments to pursue opportunities for scholarships and for collaboration with Saint Lucia These engagements have led to the following Birmingham University and Sir Arthur Lewis Community College are in communication with each other and are exploring opportunities for collaboration 2. World from Forest College and Sir Arthur Lewis have been introduced to each other and have been facilitated similarly They are due to sign a memorandum of understanding on the twinning of the two colleges shortly The Jindal Global University of India has made a special award to Saint Lucia of five tuition scholarships in diplomacy, law, business and public policy A memorandum of understanding has just been signed between the university and Saint Lucia via the High Commission to cover a period of 10 years Mr. Speaker In the area of international trade Mr. Speaker, the government of Saint Lucia is fully committed to the regional integration process and its obligations under the Revised Treaty of Baste establishing the OECS Economic Union and of course the Revised Treaty establishing the Caribbean Community including the Karikam Single Market and Economy We continue to make incremental strides in implementing the policy and legislative framework get towards the broad objective of improving the standard of living of the people of this country and the growth and development prospects of our country and regions with a robust and coordinated trade policy regime being an important mechanism to meet this obligation So Mr. Speaker again, when I speak about traveling to fulfill treaty obligations it's sometimes expedient for people to point their finger and say those people are just traveling I never live Saint Lucia and just go to a country it's because of treaty obligations we go to Karikam, we go to OECS because it provides an improved framework again like I've said for us to match our basic need with greater possibilities So Mr. Speaker I can go on and on speaking about the WTO in terms of the benefits to be derived by being in a rules based organization without the rules based system we are at a distinct disadvantage in navigating the turbulence of the contemporary global political environment Mr. Speaker I don't believe time and strict relevancy will permit me to go through all the areas but of course before I conclude that segment I want to talk about the civil aviation department and its contribution it's well placed to make its contribution to trade and the economic development of the country most of the tourists that come and stay in this country they come via air and you know my ministry is a vital pillar in facilitating airlines coming here we signed an air services agreement with Qatar creating an improved framework it may not happen this year or next year but we are finally creating the necessary mechanism the necessary framework for us to attract people from non-traditional destinations Mr. Speaker we have seen some legislative review towards dealing with the shortcomings of ECA so that we go back to category 1 status creating again an improved framework for us to address some of the challenges in our particular region I want to end this segment on diaspora affairs Mr. Speaker my ministry has heightened efforts at ensuring that nationals in the diaspora are better informed on development initiatives and opportunities at home ensuring likewise that the contributions advice and participation are sought in our decision making consequently we expanded our distribution list from under 300 contacts to over 3000 in the last fiscal year and significantly increased our presence on the various social media platforms all in an effort to keep our nationals in the diaspora informed and hopefully engaged at virtual public discussions or presentations were held with the support of our various missions to enlighten the diaspora on issues of citizenship investment, passports and customs three in person diaspora meetings were held during which we directly interacted with over 300 nationals and live streamed to thousands more globally this is in addition to over 50 meetings or discussions held with overseas base nationals possessing an interest in investment or seeking guidance on matters of the own development for that of the country in an effort to bridge the gap in the diaspora access to services of the state no fewer than 10 government or quasi government entities will engage fundamentally in an effort to improve their services and access to the services by the diaspora and to promote the need for the greater engagement of our diaspora in their development activities this included customs and excise SSDF export St Lucia, investment Lucia ministry of home affairs citizenship department, civil status registry immigration Saafa Luiz Community College ministry of local government harnessing the vast technical expertise that reside in the diaspora towards the advancement of St Lucia's national development goals is a key priority for the ministry in that regard our outreach last year resulted in one of our nationals Professor Dr. Kato Lawrence a renowned regenerative engineering scientist visiting St Lucia and staging meaningful engagements with our premier educational institution the Saafa Luiz Community College and facilitating the negotiation and signing of a cooperation memorandum of understanding between the Saafa Luiz Community College and the University of Connecticut where he is a professor this partnership has resulted in the launch of the Yukon Jump St Lucia just us moving program a healthy living initiative at the Saafa Luiz Community College additionally discussions on the establishment of a regenerative engineering laboratory at the Saafa Luiz Community College and the development of a hybrid regenerative engineering course between the two institutions are proceeding with lightning rapidity minimal faculty exchange visits have been conducted and the possibilities of more sustained faculty and student exchanges have been contemplated in yet another strategic alliance our diaspora affairs office was able to secure European Union funding support through the international center for migrant policy department to conduct a skills profiling exercise of our nationals residing in the United Kingdom the skills profile will provide us relevant data and information about our diaspora to facilitate better planning and decision making the immense promise that lies in more optimal utilization of a diaspora was once again evident in the assistance received from the Saint Lucia diaspora in the way of supplies for hospital for victims of last November's trough system which adversely affected the north of Saint Lucia Saint Lucia's consulate in Toronto mobilized and received donations from Charlotte cleaning products of Saint Lucia's own business in Canada of cleaning supplies valued at 133,174.58 or over $190,000 easy for our hospitals so $133,174.58 in Canadian dollars but $290,000 easy for our hospitals through the efforts of our council general in Toronto there was also a shipment of a large quantity of relief items including cleaning agents clothing food items school supplies and toiletries to the Saint Lucia social development fund for onward distribution to victims of the trough clearly Mr. Speaker the strategic priorities that frame Saint Lucia's national development inform its external relations and no doubt Mr. Speaker in keeping with the need to engage in some new avenues for us to take this country to a new plane of development there are structural changes we ought to make in this country and so last time when I had the opportunity to address this house maybe in 2001 I spoke about the usefulness of an economist to really deal with economic policy because given the parameters of Saint Lucia's international relations does now shifted from the promotion of interest in an environment that is dominated by economic imperatives rather than ideological considerations macro economic policy is at the heart of foreign policy therefore Saint Lucia's foreign policy needs to be shaped by the very best economic analysis Mr. Speaker the use of empirical evidence and economic analysis are crucial in formulating and executing Saint Lucia's foreign policy it is therefore important to ensure that Saint Lucia's foreign policies on the pin by sound economic analysis in this regard the following is being done as we speak the distillation of plans and proposals contained in the manifesto because the manifesto captures the intent of the government establishing some broad policy recommendations we are going to distill it into a useful form into specific policy recommendations that are anchored within the strategic development priorities of the country ensuring that those strategic priorities that frame Saint Lucia's national development and inform in external relations contribute even more to the macro economic and fiscal stability of our country and in consonance with common objectives of humanity as outlined in the UN SDGs conducting analysis that support priority foreign policy areas in the coming period support the ministry of external affairs in the development of a strategic plan and analyzing the impact of developments in the global political and economic environment that impacts Saint Lucia in the coming period will liyes with the ministry of economic development in relation to the identification of projects that align with the priorities of the government and for which funding has not has yet been identified and which can be further developed for submission to diplomatic allies for funding considerations in pursuance of Saint Lucia's national interest and projects provide policy advice on convergence between foreign policy and international cooperation including tackling global challenges within the framework of international cooperation so we will be working with a range of stakeholders including other government departments consultancies, international organizations, partner governments in other countries and academia in furthering and developing a global partnership for development. My ministry Mr. Speaker in particular focus on measures to increase resources flow from both existing and non-traditional sources from governments and organizations The economic advisor will be liasing with ministries in preparing proposals for funding considerations I intend to see how best my ministry can support the development objectives of our government by way of increased mobilization of grant resources to assist our government in dealing with external shocks Mr. Speaker, before I take my brief remarks on the budget or this appropriation bill to its logical conclusion I want to address a matter which is of vital importance to our survival and that is the clarification of the 2.5% health and security level Mr. Speaker the prime minister and minister of finance stated that the priorities of the budget 2023, 2024 are health and national security I wish to now comment on the challenges we face in each sector In the health sector the government has taken significant measures to address the infrastructural requirements of this sector through the construction of the Owen King EU hospital and our government is now taking decisive measures to complete once and for all the St. Jude Hospital after the opposition freetered away over $140 million on an unfinished structure the box instead of completing the project which the government started after the fire destroyed the surgical ward and operating theatre of the St. Jude Hospital on September 9, 2009 Mr. Speaker much has been said about the massive wastage of resources expended on the box it is to be noted that while the government led the infrastructural platform for the delivery of health services the cost of health care remains outside of the reach of many in particular the elderly the unemployed and the lower and middle income segment of the population our government started the process of developing a universal health care for the solution population as our government believes that health care should be a right and not a privilege Mr. Speaker when the government of the United Workers Party took office they discarded all of the technical work that was carried out and decided to embark on what they call national health insurance we have to date seen no evidence of any detail work carried out by the former administration on this so-called national health insurance Mr. Speaker the issue of health care is an important one for many sentlosians who cannot afford the cost all of the studies show Mr. Speaker that there is a need for additional resources to finance the universal health care and it is our firm belief and indeed our philosophy that health care should be a right enjoyed by all sentlosians we therefore need to be decisive Mr. Speaker and address the elephant in the room source for UHC similarly Mr. Speaker the Labour Party government has historically been responsible for making significant improvement to the infrastructure and national security for the construction and upgrading of police stations throughout the island sadly many of these stations have not been maintained and are now not fit for occupation the prime minister and minister of finance has announced that a contract has been signed for the renovation and repairs to the viewport police station and that construction will commence has commenced on the grozile police station moreover the government has provided additional resources to the police including notably vehicles the government has also announced plans to commence construction of the hall of justice as a means to improve the justice system notwithstanding the forgoing initiatives Mr. Speaker there is need to invest additional resources in national security so that the government can make Saint Lucia safer for its entire people a fundamental role of government is to provide law and order and it is a priority of the government to provide the police with the necessary resources to enable them to carry out the function more effectively and efficiently I applaud the prime minister and minister of finance in taking the bold and decisive step in making more resources for health and security through the 2.5% health and security level Mr. Speaker our government has implemented a series of measures designed to help the lower income unemployed this include providing significant reprieve to parents through waiver fees and payment of CXC mathematics and English provision of laptops more recently the government made fundamental reforms to the income tax regime resulting in all people earning up to $25,000 per annum will pay no tax in this current budget the government has significantly increased allocation for public assistance to strengthen the social safety net government also provided significant concessions in many areas including the waiver of duties or taxes on construction materials a rebate for $1 per gallon and few well purchased by fishermen the design of the 2.5% health and security levy has been carefully crafted so as to exclude food selected building equipment medication, security equipment and medical equipment the exclusion of these items from levy ensures that the impact on the citizens notably lower income groups are minimized it is to be further noted that our government implementing the VAT took significant measures to mitigate the VAT on the lower income group by zero rating a number of items this include fresh milk powdered milk, evaporated milk eggs, rice, flour sugar pasta preparations for infant use agricultural inputs water, electricity, animal feed educational supplies toilet paper, chicken cuts potatoes, tomatoes, onions garlic, broccoli, cabbages carrots, peas, beans celery, fruits tuna, makare just name it Mr. Speaker it is said that St. Lucia has the longest list of exempt goods under the VAT Act this is by design Mr. Speaker as we ensure that we put in place measures to protect our citizens Mr. Speaker the budget of 2022 2023 provided a springboard upon which to launch the budget for 2023-2024 the budget for 2023-2024 is designed to strengthen our economic and fiscal performance investment, create more jobs reduce unemployment grow the private sector improve the social services sector including health, education and expand the coverage of social safety nets as well as improved national security Mr. Speaker the opposition and the disciples are stunned by the economic and financial performance of the government in implementing its first budget no real fault with the budget and as a result have decided to engage in mischief and peddle on troops and propaganda in an attempt to mislead the citizens of St Lucia as is the usual vibe the campaign of misinformation has already begun on social media by attempting to portray the 2.5% the health and security has burdened some tax and ignoring all of the comprehensive benefits contained in this budget for the people of this country Mr. Speaker they are putting all the skills they learned from Cambridge Analytica to Fulius and we must be guarded at all times to provide the St Lucia public with truth honesty and accurate information at all times I am on a long final at this juncture in time Mr. Speaker and so as I slowed down for landing I want to commend again the Prime Minister and the Minister for Finance for a job well done our optimism about the future is predicated upon the fact that the Prime Minister and Minister for Finance crafted a budget to achieve the following objectives to place the economy on a path of fiscal correction to ensure the return of macroeconomics stability in the shortest possible time to provide support to the sectors of the economy that will provide the impetus to sustain economic growth and development to provide maximum support to the poor, disadvantage and vulnerable in our society to ensure that the resources of our country are spent efficiently and effectively so that the country and the people receive maximum value for the expenditures incurred Mr. Speaker this budget really gives expression to the meaning of our mantra of putting the people first and is a budget that is inclusive, equitable and growth oriented these are consistent with the co-values of the St. Lucia Labour Party this budget marks a sharp departure from the budgets of the former government which provided for distorted form of development resulting in widening income inequality benefiting a select few that will coin the FFF under the leadership of the Honourable Prime Minister St. Lucia will achieve the level of macroeconomics stability as well as the fiscal space needed to create opportunities for real and further increases in expenditure on social services reduce the cost and risk for all investors and therefore load the foundation for increase investment and growth Mr. Speaker Singapore was able to make great strides over many many years because one government with progressive policies implemented those policies they got to maturity and gave both to the type of results and therefore the performance I am seeing in this budget and in other areas by the Prime Minister demonstrates very clearly that this thing about Pani Dubuta Peia one term this one that term and changing the change that comes to an end now with the performance of the Minister for Finance and a cabinet that constitute a positive and a progressive group that will fly through bad weather and effect a safe landing we are on our way to the promised land Mr. Speaker love live the member for Casuizis and love live the cabinet of the St. Lucia Labour Party