 The St. Lucia Hotel and Tourism Association, SLHTA, invited Prime Minister Hon. Philip J. Pierre to deliver the feature address at its 58th annual General Meeting. Hon. Pierre, himself a former Tourism Minister, promoted the benefits of consultation and engagement between government and tourism industry stakeholders to refine and shape policy to sustain growth and expansion in the tourism sector. I welcome the opportunity to address you on your theme, Building Forward Better Together, which is fully explained as a call to action for the private sector to focus its resources on the sustainable recovery of the economy through stronger linkages with our private sectors. While your main emphasis may be on greater collaboration within the private sector, your call could be extended to include stronger linkages between the public and private sectors as well. St. Lucia continues to be the destination of choice for North American and European holiday makers. The island continues to record impressive arrival numbers. The post-COVID leisure travel rebound accelerated in 2021. Visitor expenditure exceeded $560 million last year. And hotels and accommodation properties collectively made in excess of $363 million. A resurgence in investor confidence in St. Lucia's tourism product under Hon. Pares Stewardship has opened the door for more than $320 million worth of projected investments secured within the first eight months of 2022. Investors are showing a high level of confidence and interest in St. Lucia's economic prospects. This is evident by a level of tourism investments which has been recorded for the period January to August 2022. During that period, Cabinet approved 20 projects for tourism incentives. A mountain to projected investments of $226.6 million. Sandals has started its renovations and expansion at the Halcyon property. A hotel formerly caught in May has reopened on the new management after renovations. East Winds Hotel is on the new ownership with major plans for expansion just to name a few. The hospitality industry is the island's leading private sector employer. Tens of thousands of St. Lucia's are directly employed in the local hotel sector. Thousands more benefit from secondary linkages. The Pierre administration continues to advocate for worker rights. The Prime Minister made an impartial appeal to SLHDA members to ensure their employees are adequately compensated. This government will assist whenever we can to help you succeed with your business and we continue to encourage to invest in our country. However, we need you to uphold your corporate responsibility to treat workers fairly, compensate workers adequately so that every participant can enjoy the benefits of the tourism and our society sector and in return they will help us promote and defend our sector. The SLHDA's 58th AGM was held at Sandals' Grand on August 25th under the theme, quote, building forward better together from the office of the Prime Minister, Rihanna Isidou.