 Good day and welcome. Every year since 1948, on the third Thursday in October, credit unions worldwide celebrate International Credit Union Day. On that day, credit unions seek to raise awareness about the tremendous work that credit unions and other financial cooperatives are doing around the world and thereby hope to motivate other persons to join credit unions and motivate members to become more engaged. This year, 2023 is the 75th anniversary of celebration of the International Credit Union Day, the theme that's celebrating the spirit of the global credit union movement. Here in St. Lucia, in addition to celebrating International Credit Union Day, credit unions have used the whole month of October to host a variety of activities which celebrate achievement, demonstrate appreciation to members, and educate members and the public about credit unions. One of the tools employed to educate members and the public has been the panel discussion. Hence the reason for us being here today. At these panel discussions, we bring together active employees of credit unions and volunteers to share with you, our audience, all things credit union, to seek to raise awareness of credit unions, what they have done, what they are doing, and what they can be doing. I am Mark Horville-Combie, a member of the St. Lucia Teachers Credit Cooperative and the moderator for today's panel discussion. To the far right, to my very far right, is Miss Antonia Joseph, who is the general manager of the Elk City of Castro's Credit Union. Squashed between the two ladies is Mr. Lucius Elevic, general manager of the Labry Cooperative Credit Union. And to my immediate right, Miss Marilyn Prince, who is the treasurer of the Denry Cooperative Credit Union, and also the assistant secretary of the board of directors of the St. Lucia Cooperative Credit Union League. Welcome, colleagues. Thank you. Miss Prince, may you be status of, what are the benefits of credit unions? OK, good morning, everyone. And I first want to say that everyone should be a part of a credit union. And I will explain why. It is the right balance for a financial diet. I call it the financial appetizer. And let me explain that. When you are part of a credit union, you know this institution is member-owned, and it's run by the members. Therefore, you as a shareholder, you get to be in the decision-making of that organization. Also, you get to share the surplus in the form of dividends. And that means that automatically means that you have an increase on your accounts. So again, you can't go wrong just joining a credit union. Also, everyone has financial goals, whether it be you want to save up for a project or you want to save up for a special cause. For some people, it's about saving up for an emergency fund. What better place to do that than a credit union? Because the credit union, it fits right into this plan. And we say that because saving at a credit union, it heals higher saving interest. And that is favorable to you. And therefore, if you just say, OK, I want to save, and you get a normal checking account, it might just heal interests that are not as much as the credit union. So for me, especially for me as a young person, I want to put my financial resources in a place where it's going to heal that interest. So if I want to, say, build my house, or I want to take up a project, I know my financial resources is safe at a credit union. And just one more. For me, being part of a credit union, it allows me to develop as a person. So not only I'm getting these financial resources and the security there, but being part of volunteering at that credit union, it helps me develop so many things. So again, I would advise everyone, if you can get the nearest credit union and you can enjoy these benefits that I have said, and then you'll be hearing later from the other panelists. Many of the points which have been made about the benefits of the credit union can be accessed in other financial institutions. So how do we accentuate the differences between a credit union and how do we accentuate the credit union difference? Mr. Elephant? OK, thank you, Mr. Kambi. I am a little happy to be associated with the credit union movement of St. Lucia. As with all movements, there must be a cause. And the cause for which we strive is to exert economic and social justice within the market forces that confront our operations. The cost structures, and let us say the revenue structures of credit unions are similar to that of the, let us call them, the other providers of financial services. We encounter the same sources of risks, be it inflationary pressures, credit risks, what? Operational risk, market risk. But the important difference between the credit union and the other providers of financial services is how we respond to those risks. And the important difference there is our belief systems. The belief systems of credit union can probably summarize using three important concepts. The first being member ownership, member control, and member benefits. And this, if you want to call it, this forms a bedrock against which we craft and implement strategies. There is a phrase in Creole that we say, nupakachwe ko by ko. One would not kill himself for himself. It is actually counterintuitive. So as a cooperative, even our race is not dead, the very reason for which we exist is to create benefits, what we call the cooperative benefits. And by definition, cooperative benefits actually is a composite of economic value and social value. Over the years, the credit union movement have been experiencing significant growth. And even when we measure our performance, we seem to accentuate and emphasize the economic value. I think a time has come where we need to reflect as a movement. Remember, our cause is to exert social and economic justice within the market in which we operate. And that cause is the cause of all of us. So we are saying that as we move, my fear is, we don't have a point where the credit union is doing well and yet its members suffer. If we ever reached that point, it would be a situation where we no longer have members but customers. And that, I think, is a good point at which we can take our first break. Thank you, Mr. Helvick. When we come back, we will move on from that point. I will develop it a bit further. Suicidal thoughts, like other mental health challenges, can affect anyone. It can be you, your colleague, family member, or neighbor. Everyone has a role to play in preventing suicide. Know the warning signs. If you or someone you know is in crisis or emotional distress, call the Suicide Hotline at 203. Remember, help is available. This is a message from the Employee Assistance Program, Department of the Public Service. Contact us at 468.2269 or 468.2260. Welcome back. At the first break, we had Mr. Helvick expounding on the importance of us as a credit union not to lose that difference. And he was emphasizing this, that social, economic, and social justice. So can you just tie up that point a bit further? OK, yes. And this is the universal, if you want to call it, definition of the cooperative. But then we operate in a field, and then we have to adapt and respond. Because whereas we are a spouse, we still have to be competitive, we still have to provide our members still want benefits using the least cost method. And sometimes you reach a point where the whole concept, what we call isomorphism, where we become homogenized, where we lose our identity as a cooperative. And quickly, there are three major forces that tend to push us, I'll use the word banks, that push us towards almost resembling banks. And the first point would be that of what we call cohesive isomorphism. And it comes sometimes through our regulators. It comes from the laws that are passed in parliament that we are pushed into a particular practice. And sometimes we have no choice because they are regulators. And quickly, the other one is what we probably call normative isomorphism, where persons come to us with the MBAs, even persons who attend consultancies, we have consultants. They come up with concepts of benchmarks and standards. And that these are actually generated from what we call profit maximizing entities, investor-owned entities. And they want to tell us that they are inadequacies in what we are doing. And so we're supposed to become more homogenized through. And the other one is what we call mimetic. We in a movement sometimes, we are not sure of probably the technology that is being used. We are not sure of how to analyze macroeconomic variables. And so we think probably a bank maybe is better able at doing it. So since we are not sure of ourselves, we mimic. And lo and behold, we lose that differentiating characteristic. And then there's a blur between us and the other profit maximizing providers of financial services. Something as a movement in 2023, we need that point of reflection. The future of cooperative institutions yet to be returned, we all have a part at this time in writing that future. Lots of valid points. But as you said, how do we prevent ourselves from being? Because for example, I know one of the things which our members ask for, and we have to make decisions about, is technology. How do we achieve effectiveness and efficiency through technology and how not to allow that to make us lose our identity? Ms. Joseph, what's your thoughts on this? Thank you, Mr. Kombi. I was really going into caring for community, but I'm happy you put this question of technology on to me. Whilst we may want to align the whole aspect of the credit union with technology, one of the things that we need to be very careful of is that our credit unions really stemmed from our hardcore members, and there really is all the folks who are with the credit unions. And we now have the new generation we do. We need to ensure that we take care of them. Whilst what we do not want to happen is that, like Mr. Elific alluded to earlier, we do not want to mention banks. But we do not want our members to continue to gravitate towards those institutions where the technology is being presented to them on a platter. So we need to somehow continue to create our basic principle, which is savings and helping the community. Savings, while we help our communities to develop in our seventh principle of caring for community. Whilst also taking into consideration that, yes, we need the technology to enable us to move over into 2024, 2025, 2026, and beyond. Because this is where everyone needs a card to flash and say we're going to purchase something. We do not want the aspect of people coming into the credit unions all the time to withdraw funds or to withdraw a slip on a slip. People that the time factor, people do not have the time that they would need right now to get to the credit unions physically. So they want that ready cash available when they require it. So, yes, in terms of technology, we need to ensure that we go digital in some aspects. Paying your bills online, we need to be able to, the credit unions, we need to be able to move forward with this aspect of paying your bills online. Not all of us are very tired. We come from work. We have not paid the bills. We don't want to walk into a utility company. Yes, we need to go. There are many ways other than having members to withdraw funds from their account. A lot of ways that we could use that technology to ensure that we assist our members moving forward, helping the community. I'm a salesperson, Mr. Alevic. I came to you with this piece of technology. I said this will improve efficiency and productivity. What goes through your mind in making a decision about the technology? The first thing there is, to what extent it would cause us to espouse that cooperative difference? To what extent it would help me minimize costs? The question of operational efficiency, operational effectiveness, this is an important goal. We have to produce two outputs in a credit union, economic output and social output. And the social output is actually financed from our surplus. So then I have to interrogate that bit of technology and see to the extent to which it helps me with my efficiency, help me with my effectiveness. In terms of the role of technology, I look at it, if I have to use, let's say, a metaphor, I look at technology as a buffet table, okay? If you know you're lactose intolerant, you should look at the dairy. So the focus of the glamour and the glitz, it has to be evaluated vis-à-vis our mission, our purpose, vis-à-vis our cost minimization, because our members want values, but they also compare the cost of that value. So we need a kind of multivariate approach in determining which bit of technology is consistent with us as our cooperative. In our field of membership, we have persons from who are versed in technology to those who would be critical of us not having the technology. So we need a blend. We do not want a credit union to be a situation for the next generation to say, credit union, that's what my grandmother used to do business. So we have to remain relevant, okay? And then that is the future. There is the important role of technology, but again, I'm saying we need that kind of litmus test to determine which bit of technology is appropriate for us to us at a given point in time, okay? And again, end on a good note first to take our second break. And when we come back in our final break, we will spend, after this break, our final segment, we will spend some time on promoting the social values of the cooperative. Thank you. What's in the food you're eating? Do you really even know? All the chemicals and hormones used to accelerate their growth? All the artificial flavoring Sweeteners and colors too We consume and we don't spare a thought for the damage that they'll do No Think about the children Think about the children How will we save it? Cells and GMOs are not the solution Use organic and join Excessive agrochemical use, Additives and genetically modified foods are harmful to health and the environment Join the Good Food Revolution Grow, buy and consume organic A message from Rye St. Lucia and the Ministry of Sustainable Development with funding from the GEF Small Grants Program, UNDP The Good Food Revolution Welcome back to our final segment of our panel discussion I will return to Ms. Joseph because she had to share with us She was keen on sharing with us some things in terms of the social values and in terms of what the credit union can be, movement, not just credit the credit union can be doing to address some of the social ills which we are encountering Thank you Mr. Kombi The passion here for me and for credit unions should be our principles and the bottom of this is principle seven, caring for community We as credit unions continue to care for our members They say that every member is unique We listen to the members That's what credit unions do We listen to the members and nurture them We take them out of situations that they marginalize and even out of lives of crime When we listen to them we hear their stories and there are lots of untold stories from those members and there are lots of stories to be told We listen to them, we assist them We hear their story The important thing We look at the whole person the member what their needs are and we assist them We beat from how they were nurtured how they were socialized what it influences them now what it will be influencing them in the future We take those stories and assist them accordingly They go out there and then they go into the communities and share those stories out there They are there What we need to do as credit unions in the future is take those stories and ensure that we assist our members the social aspect of it use those surpluses that we mentioned earlier on to assist those members the youth to take them out of those lives of crime that is continually plaguing us How we do that allocate some of those surpluses to the movement should allocate some of those surpluses to assist in our communities to assist in the members to assist in the youth in building small businesses which we can use and monitor and nurture them and also give them the financial literacy that we are so good at doing the financial literacy that they require We all do it as managers we all do it as volunteers and that's what we should continue to do The credit unions give the surpluses to assist those members in that regard So I'll ask each of you, Mr. Elevick and then Ms. Binh What would you think would be one of the social issues that you think the credit union movement has working together can address? One of the things that I'm a big proponent of socialization I think a lot of the Ilza society seem to stem from how we socialize our young ones And it comes in the whole question of the quality of parenting In St. Lucia it appears the fecundity rate has gone down I remember growing up when Shanti sang St. Lucia going low low low because of high population growth and then now we are in a phase where these the parents or the people who were born during that time now have children and as a society it appears that the quality of parenting seems to be deteriorating And credit unions, let's say, for a keen sense of social mindedness should probably come together to look at how we could address that It is what the sociologists might probably call a wicked problem A wicked problem is one that is difficult to define And if it is difficult to define it would be difficult even to come up with a solution But then we need to take a generalized view and probably focus on a particular aspect of it And I think as a movement collectively let us look at how we could use our collective surplus to address that aspect of the Ilza confrontinous Okay Very quickly what area you think the credit union movement as a whole can address in terms of social? Okay We find there are problems with the young ones, the school leavers And when they go out in the world of work the transition for them can be very difficult because they are sheltered at school But when they make that leap it's like they get confused they don't know what to do, where to go Okay, maybe if I have a job how do I allocate my resources to move forward? So I think the credit union can look at the school leavers and begin to give them that base, that foundation so that when they leave and go out in the world they know exactly where they're going and how they can spring from this so the support is very necessary Okay, thank you As usual with programs like that time is never enough but what as the panel discussions are designed to do is to wet the appetite of our members to wet the appetite of the public at large to what is possible, what we can do And so we have heard some of the areas which we think the credit union movement can move forward through in the future and so we encourage that discussion to continue in the individual credit unions at the league level so that we as a credit union movement is not just a financial institution but as Mr. Elevick said with us that we are also a social movement and not just economic, we are a social movement and it would be great that if we as credit unions who have achieved so much economically can now help St. Lucia overcome some of the issues which they are facing social So again, Ms. Joseph, Mr. Elevick, and Ms. Prince thank you for joining us and for those of you in the audience ratio world What view in this? Thank you very much Have a blessed day Thank you, thank you, thank you