 10. For the second consecutive fiscal year, St. Lucia is on course to register double-digit GDP growth of 18.1% in 2022, a marked improvement when compared to the 12.1% GDP projection in the previous year. Prime Minister Pierre has successfully nursed St. Lucia's economy from the sharpest GDP decline to the second-best-performing economy in the entire Karakom region. 9. For the first time since 2010, the national unemployment rate dropped to 19% by the end of 2022 and youth unemployment declined to its lowest levels in 13 years. 8. More than EC, $130,000 was disbursed to six St. Lucia entrepreneurs and business owners during the first official check-hand-over ceremony under the newly-minted micro-small and medium-sized enterprise MSME loan-grant facility. The government has demonstrated its understanding of a major challenge faced by our MSMEs and it is addressing this issue via financial inclusion. 7. The recent donation of equipment to the Opikos Seamos Farmers Association and Seamos Farmers in Salons Bay is a tangible demonstration of the government's commitment to this burgeoning industry of drying tables and flotation devices, essential tools that will help them maintain proper standards and elevate their Seamos farming operations to new heights. 6. The meeting of stakeholders within the Sphere of Food Safety and Policymaking was held at the public service training room in April. The consultative session focused on food safety legislation informing and directing policy and strengthening food safety systems. 5. Fellow St. Lucia, as we move into the final term of the 2022-2023 academic year, I take this opportunity to address our stakeholders. We enter into this final term of the year with a commitment to build on the gains of last term, despite the many challenges we currently face. 4. Words of the Boy's Training Centre BTC covered its students of the new beginnings transit home have embraced the creative art of mural painting following hands-on training from artist-affiliated in the French embassy in St. Lucia. 3. St. Lucia, like other small island developing states, is working assiduously to achieve the United Nations' 2030 Agenda for the Attainment of Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs. UN Resident Coordinator for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, D. D. Trebek, says the UN is pleased with St. Lucia's space with SDG achievement. We have done a lot of strides in our collaboration here in St. Lucia. We have a country implementation plan that focuses on, of course, responding to the various crises the country and the region have gone through recently. 2. The Ministry of Health, Wellness and Elderly Affairs this week joins its counterparts in the observance of the 24th Vaccination Week of the Americas. This observance coincides with the World Health Organization 12th Anniversary of World Immunization Week, emphasizing the protection that vaccines provide to individuals and their loved ones, and stressing the importance for a long and healthy life. 1. Despite the rise in modern technology, Karu, who once worked as a library assistant overseas, thinks libraries still have a place in building young lives. 2. Books have allowed me to see past my reality and in many ways to manifest my future.