 Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, members of the press. I recognize the chair, first chair of the UNORA Society and the founder of what has happened in the journey for the development of copyrights in St. Lucia, Mr. Jean Lawrence. Our all dear friends in this room, our members overseas, that is Antigua, Dominica, and I do wish to apologize to Dominica. It's just unfortunate that we are to comply with the provisions of our bylaws, so we may have less members attending today. Grenada, St. Kitts and Nives, St. Lucia, Antigua, my dear friends, I wouldn't have done that to Director Scarrett. We have several persons in the room including our guest speaker, our auditor, the staff, the accounting advisor to us, and the other members all invited to this 12th annual journal meeting. I will say to all of us here in the room and across the subregion that it is such an elation that the Board of Directors can present the annual report for 2022 in a timely manner to the journal membership with this year's theme, let's do it right. To my right you have Director Nicholas, Director Melissa Moses, the Chair of the Proceedings, Bruno Leos. We have apologies from the other members who have been, who are in fact in training as we speak, and myself your Chair. In doing it right as Chair, I'm also equally pleased in ensuring that we have had annual reports from 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022, which were produced under our tenure and presented simultaneously to share with our members in time for this 12th annual journal meeting. This has been so, Echo has had his challenges and the members have been asking for information. They've been directing questions at us and they need answers. So members, this clearly seeks to arrest the culture of the malaise of the past at Echo, presenting its financial reports with a two-year, sometimes a three-year lag. Under this tenure we found this untenable, unwarranted, and there's no excuse for it. But this effort will greatly enhance the efficiency of the work of Echo as a company. This ought to include the mindset for the possibility in future planning and should not be limited to the distribution of royalties to its members. Echo will adopt a digital system, the United Nations World Intellectual Property Organization Coined Connect, this year to manage the distribution of royalties in a more timely and transparent manner. The business of Echo members is yours and you need to attend to its business affairs. Members will also realize that this achievement did not come easily. Several persons were responsible and these are the persons that should get the praise. The staff, and you know we have very large staff, right? The accounting consultant who is here, Mr. Ramdari, the auditors who are here, and they've been with us for a long time, Grand Tonton, and the guidance and cooperation of the officer in charge because as you know we don't have management staff, they can see you, they can see operations management. This is what we are confronted with when we assume a role as leadership for the organization. So that has come with a wise and effective and immensely challenging effort. Notwithstanding this proud achievement was a miss a tumultuous year of challenges for the board of directors. I did not lament the COVID-19 pandemic has ceased, but just about it being ceased, Echo was without the services of a CEO and also a highly experienced operations manager, followed by the resignation of a dedicated board secretary. Thank you, Ms. Henderson. This was also coupled with the unionization of staff and its ongoing negotiations. These challenges, I guess, are not imagined. Having set goals because of the recession of the impact of COVID and the opening of the global markets, this was followed by the Ukraine crisis which has also had its impact on the music industry and solutionally the rest of the Caribbean is no exception. So during 2022, we actually witnessed new trends in the music industry. And this is what the theme of our annual general meeting this year. We witnessed new trends and new challenges in the consumption of music globally. And this is reflected in internet-based platforms at an estimated 64%, while non-internet-based platforms were estimated at 37%. And this is not David Jordan speaking or Echo speaking. The IFPI through the virtual capitalists have been able to analyze this scenario and share it to the rest of the world. Members will need to recognize there is even greater need to work with your organization. It is in this endeavor of working together that projects like education and sensitization of copyright industry stakeholders, contingency fund structures, and legislative goals of Echo will be very relevant to the growth and development of our members. To take on the trend and the challenges of digitalization of the musical industry. Already, it is being revealed that there is a need for greater advocacy by our organization. And to equip itself with the necessary sources, knowledge, experience, and expertise to combat the trend of the music industry. And to poise itself to exploit the possibilities to come. The experience proves that it is not the same business as yesterday. Our advocacy calls for the revisit of our relations with our stakeholders, our respective stakeholders, and there are many. But primarily, it calls for governments in the sub-region to see that the music industry is truly a contributor to gross domestic product and the economic and social growth in the sub-region. There is need to adopt a better legislation so as to strengthen our copyrights, law, and musical rights laws to manage the music industry. And to enhance policies directed for the benefit of the creators, mainly the youth, as well as those who created the current platform. So if you are in agreement with me, Echo Arts, why so many users don't pay their licenses? Why so many users are not licensed and comply? Why governments seem to be so hesitant to create the proper legislative and policy environment with enforceable laws? Why can't we get the broadcast bill enacted in the sub-region almost two decades, and to be precise, since 206, and the increase of broadcasting entities in the respective jurisdictions in the sub-region? If we address this, this would certainly help us to improve on our creators' revenue streams and members' benefit more handsomely with greater transparency and sustainability. So Mr. Chair, let us do it right. Echo, let us do it right. Thank you. My name is Kamani Goddard. I am indeed St. Lucian, and I am very happy to be here today at Echo's 12th annual AGM. I remember when it was my days at HTS in the media, when it was a Uranora Music Society, and I am indeed happy to see still going strong with a little bit of troubles on the way, but still going along the way, but still going strong. So good morning, members of the CMO community, members of the music industry, members of the press, interested solutions, and other corporate citizen members. First of all, let me not forget, I wish to say happy Independence Day, happy 44th Independence Day to my fellow Saint Lucians. I thought I would put that in, and I thought it would be necessary, because I am optimistic that future celebrations, independent celebrations that it is, will see our music and creative industry sector make greater contributions to economic, social, and cultural development, as well as trade revenues in the region. My interest is in the music industries and the creative industries as generators of international trade revenue, and I'll say a lot more about that. Okay, so I would like to say thanks to the Echo Secretariat and its members for inviting me to speak this morning. I would like to say a special thanks to Echo Chairman, David Jordan, and Officer in Charge, Keene Carter, especially. Further, I would like to congratulate you, as I said, on getting to your 12th AGM, a few small issues, a few small teething issues, but your hair. So, now my purpose here this morning is to talk about the importance of collective management and copyright in transforming the music and creative industries into a competitive trade sector for all stakeholders in the sub-region. Mark me right, it is an international trade revenue generator, not just royalties, not just licensing, not just collections. All of these things we see when we collect them from abroad, these are international trade revenue statistics. So, in the Caribbean, the music and creative industries are often viewed from the perspective of national regional markets. Through CMOs such as Echo, Coscap, Jamaican Music Rights Societies, and others in the region. We have some way to go in achieving efficient royalties collections for our members and licensing structures. Such small CMOs must simultaneously engage with their affiliate CMOs across international borders and build foreign demand for use of their members' works in order to generate foreign royalties revenues that register significantly in regional trade statistics. Our markets are small, our markets for consumption of music are small. We have some difficulties collecting licensing revenue. For us, for small CMOs and small creative industries markets such as ours, international trade in music industries is the way to go. To pitch our industry toward looking at export or trade-led revenue growth. So, there is a pressing need to execute a well-planned transformation. There is a pressing need to execute a well-planned transformation of the perception of all stakeholders in the industry. From one of national and regional market limitations to one of global markets and international trade in music products and services. Our collecting societies and copyright law institutions need to be provided with the latitude and resources to shape the music industry into a viable international trading sector. My reason for choosing this topic is to highlight you as ECHO's members, authors, composers and performers. You are not just important figures in the various Eastern Caribbean national cultural economies helping to maintain cultural identities. That's important. But you are also key economic actors in national economic transformation who with the right regulation, policies and institutional support have the potential to achieve some measured international trade competitiveness in music and related creative industries. As a collecting society, ECHO is one of your key ingredients. That's right, one of your key ingredients in facilitating that process of moving this music industry toward export led international trade revenues. Others include effective broadcasting legislation, the addition of discrete collective rights management regulation that supports existing copyright legislation where needed in ECHO member territories as well as access to an effective use of software solutions and international codes for identifying use of members' copyright works in foreign markets. So then, what does international trade competitiveness and international trade revenue look like within the context of collective management organizations, royalties, licensing revenues and so on? After all, copyright licensing and royalties do not normally align with what many of us perceive as conventional international trade. This is not what we often see as international trade. International copyright law and rapidly advancing information technology tools provide the legal foundation and access that allows nearly seamless trade in cultural goods, giving consumers everywhere the possibility to enjoy cultural products and services in a wide variety of formats and media. A key concern for copyright holders, authors, composers, performers and importantly international trade authorities in many countries, we hope international trade authorities in many countries in the region, is the copyright infrastructure that allows efficient and effective remuneration and reward for use of these works. It is only when this infrastructure, meaning CMO copyright management software, international works identifying codes and strong copyright offices, it is only when these are functional that international trade revenues for use of works in foreign markets can be achieved successfully. This is where the importance of CMOs as trade facilitators comes in. As well as the various software platforms and international standard codes that help identify use of members' works abroad. So to better understand, we need to look again at conventional explanations of what a collective management organization is and what it does. Then deconstruct those definitions to demonstrate how CMOs can facilitate earning of international trade revenues in the music and creative industries. And in the case of ECHO, due to market failures related to national market size and limited investment capital in the subregion, there is a need for organizations like ECHO to expand their work into supporting the development of their members as artists and engaging with other stakeholders in building markets for their members' copyright works abroad. Of course, these ventures need to be undertaken alongside various partners, including government partners and private sector partners. So let's take another look at the typical definition of a collective management organization and see if we can reconcile this with an organization that can be a facilitator of international trade in music. The conventional wisdom is that CMOs undertake the management of the rights of authors, performers, producers and other holders of copyright to simplify and reduce transaction costs. Exclusive rights and collective bargaining can provide an alternative solution to management. However, what we see, what do CMOs do? They monitor when, where and what works are used. They negotiate licensing tariffs and other conditions with users, licensing of protected works on behalf of their members, collecting fees from users and distributing. These are the basics. Many small CMOs within the Caribbean region, Echo and others, have difficulties fulfilling these basics and we need to work on these basics. But where the strength of CMOs lie for the Caribbean region, for a region whose economy is beset by market failures in the entertainment industry because of its small size and lack of capitalization, I want to emphasize that the responsibilities that small CMOs like Echo must take on are thus heavy and very complex. Small CMOs need more. They need to do more. They need to grow their royalties revenues. And how do you grow a royalties revenues when the large Hollywood, BMI, ASCAP entertainment markets take the attention of the music industry, the entertainment industry around the world? CMOs must come in and fill the market gap, fill market failures and do what the private sector in our region has failed to do. Help develop their artists, their artists sound and invest in the development of artists. Also market and develop a taste in markets across the world for our music product. Small jurisdictions such as the Eastern Caribbean have inherent market failures relating to size and capitalization, particularly in music and creative industries. The only way to overcome these is through reorienting the music industry to an international market development, development of artists to bring the Eastern Caribbean sound into international markets. And this must be a shared responsibility of Echo, various cultural agencies, the financial and private sector and the all important government agencies. The goal here is increased international trade revenues from our music. And you heard me right, international trade revenues. I'm not saying royalties. I'm not saying licensing fees. I'm calling them international trade revenues because these are the words that governments understand. So I want us just for a brief moment in our heads to replace the term royalties collections, royalties revenues with music industry international trade revenues. Once we make this shift in our minds, think clearly how we normally approach economic sectors that we are aiming to develop for the purpose of international trade. Think agriculture, tourism, manufacturing. We think of laws. We think of laws to implement to protect our industries. We think of financing to develop these industries. We think of training to develop the skill sets of persons in those industries. We think of export financing and marketing support when we think of agriculture, tourism and manufacturing. Once we begin to see the music industry in this slide, once we begin to see royalties collections as international trade revenues, music industry international trade revenues, our collecting societies and their members will be seen as a segment of our economy with significant potential to attract trade revenues from overseas royalties collections. We will begin to understand the steps that are needed to improve the lives of our creators and to create a multiplier effect within our economy that starts with increasing international music trade revenues. Therefore, we see that collecting societies like ECON, they are facilitators of and catalysts for efficiently capturing the economic value of the music and creative industries and transferring that wealth directly to copyright holders, authors, composers and performers. At the national level, CMOs ensure the continued existence of vibrant cultural economies. At the international level, however, their reciprocal recognition agreements with affiliate CMOs around the world such as PRS for Music, ASCAP and BMI transform them into conduits of royalties, conduits for royalties revenues earned abroad as a result of the use of their members' copyright works. This is in essence international trade revenue generated from the use of their members' works in other music markets around the world. As such, a well-run active CMO can be the key to ensuring that the music and related creative industries make a significant impact on the subregions international trade statistics and international trade revenues. Therefore, ECON and other collecting societies around the region are among the institutions that are key in building trade and export competitiveness in music and the creative industries. As an intellectual property policy advisor, my work and many of the projects that I take on often straddle international trade investment and of course intellectual property. Many times this necessitates analyzing local intellectual property policy issues. This means issues that affect individual players such as ECOS members, those who are guarded here today, and businesses in national markets by addressing their individual place within the overall functioning of the broader system of value creation. As members of the Eastern Caribbean collecting organization ECHO, I want you to think more deliberately about the importance of royalties legislation, about the importance of legislation as a hindrance or a facilitator in markets. We need to reach out our advocacy in diaspora markets where our artists' music are consumed to educate businesses, event promoters on the importance of seeking licenses from these markets. In an industry beset by market failures, at least in the subregion, the role of ECHO is even more important. There is no private sector to offer the kind of support that you get in the UK or the American market. Therefore, I would like to leave you on this note that international collecting societies, regional collecting societies, and the collection of royalties abroad, the collection of royalties for use of your members' musical works abroad, is international trade revenue. You are a viable international trade sector, just as valuable as agriculture, tourism, and manufacturing. You require the same institutional, legislative, and resource support that other sectors of the economy, other trading sectors of the economy, receive to develop their product, their members, and the quality of their goods in the marketplace. So hopefully, I hope that what I have said today has set new terms in your mind on the way of thinking about music, the creative industries, and collecting societies in the national and international economy. Thank you very much.