 Happy holidays to all my St. Lucian families and friends. My dear constituents of Souffre-Foshe-Jacques, fellow St. Lucians, believe it or not, we are blessed with life to celebrate yet another Christmas. And for this, we should be eternally grateful to the Almighty. The past year has been difficult with COVID impacting all of us in various ways. We are surviving it because Christ is in our midst. Let us celebrate and show our love by sharing what we have with one another in a peaceful and joyous manner. Souffre-Foshe-Jacques, Bhoutan, Chateau-Bellet, Barron's Rive, Souffre Town, New Development, Palmis, Fourbennier, E-Tanks, Belfont. As your parliamentary representative, I thank you for your cooperation, patience, and support, and for the opportunity to serve you. As the minister with responsibility for commerce, manufacturing, business development, cooperatives, and consumer affairs, I have been encouraged when engaging our various stakeholders to witness this re-emergence of the St. Lucian spirit firsthand. As new business ideas, ways to enhance efficiency emerge through these engagements. I have witnessed employers committing to retaining their staff despite mock reductions in revenue, each with that deeper understanding of putting people first. Quite significantly, I have witnessed positive changes in our consumer behavior as an increasing number of you show great patriotism by supporting our local producers and service providers. And you are gradually embracing the idea of being sustainable consumers by eating what we grow. I am very proud today because you have demonstrated great resilience and capacity to navigate these turbulent times and I salute you. To the St. Lucia business community and aspiring business minds at home and abroad, I wish to remind you that the team at the Ministry of Commerce remains fully committed to continue supporting you while ensuring that your enabling environment is sustained. In so doing, our private sector will thrive maintaining its place as the engine of growth for our local economy and as a vital stakeholder in building a St. Lucia that our future generations truly deserve. I wish to thank the Honorable Prime Minister, my cabinet colleagues and my entire team at the Ministry of Commerce and our allied agencies, Exports St. Lucia, the Bureau of Standards and the Cooperative Movement for their tenacity and strong support. I wish to express my thanks and gratitude to Ambassador Peter Chen and the Republic of China Taiwan for their support to my ministry and to the government and people of St. Lucia. I also want to express my appreciation to all essential workers who continue to serve with distinction and to those who will be working during this holiday season. This Christmas season, let us give thanks for all our blessings and let us be optimistic that 2022 will be a brighter and better year filled with peace, good health and happiness. Merry Christmas and a happy, happy New Year to all. Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.