 The business community in the south of the island has consolidated as it prepares to take advantage of the opportunities investments in the south are bringing. The issue was discussed Sunday evening during the GIS NTN panel series COVID-19 Road to Recovery. Anise Antoine has the details. The Road to Recovery business and investment panel discussion focused on investment opportunities around the island and the synergies that exist between government agencies and business organizations as the battle continues against the COVID-19 pandemic. Sabina Valmore, founding president of the Southern Business Association, launched in November 2019, explained that the newly formed body promotes the economic development of the south by providing advocacy and support for small businesses, including car rentals, bookstores, taxi drivers and contractors. Valmore stated that with new projects continuously coming on stream for the advancement and future development of the south of the island, this type of institution is critical in creating opportunities for small businesses. We're now at the point where we want those projects to happen. We are waiting for them to happen. We want to see improved and improved economic climate in the south of the island. That is what we are looking for. We invest the same kind of money as the rest of St. Lucia. We want to begin seeing the same kind of returns and we do not think that isolating ourselves as a community is going to work to our advantage. We understand that the world is now a global space and isolation does nothing for us as a community. All it will do is to keep us at a disadvantage. Valmore explained that the Southern Business Association will continue to liaise with entities such as investing Lucia to ensure inclusion in plans for the development of the south. At some point before things begin to actually take root that we would have another opportunity to sit with investing Lucia as an association. So our members would have that opportunity to dialogue with investing Lucia to find out exactly how it is they would be able to capitalise on what it is that was coming for the south. And that is one of the fundamental reasons, Lucia, why we're insisting on ensuring that the Southern Business Association is present at the table. Because for too long, businesses in the south have not had a voice, have not had the presence at the table where the decisions have been made. With the change in dynamics of operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the president of the Southern Business Association encouraged members to find new ways to make their business more efficient and profitable. What we are finding is that there is a lot of need as far as financing will go because for a lot of members, business has ground to a halt. There is no money coming into the business. And so for some of them, the concern is whether I will even be around post COVID. So that is one of the challenges. Another big need right now in the MSME space is the ability to pivot your business so that you have an online presence. And I was fortunate to take part in a recent meeting with the OAS where they were discussing this platform that is now available to MSMEs where your business can move online if you don't have the capacity. Because what we saw during COVID was that businesses who had the capability of operating in the online space were able to continue, especially if they were essential. But for those of them who did not have that capability, everything ground to a halt. The Southern Business Association has a membership of 58 businesses to date. From the Government Information Service, I am Anisia Antoine reporting.