 With rising inflation and production costs globally, it is more important than ever to reduce St Lucia's food import bill and increase the consumption of local products. The Agriculture Ministry's most recent efforts include a newly opened retail outlet at the Castries Market, overseen by the St Lucia Marketing Board, and aims to make quality food available to the public at affordable prices. General Manager of the St Lucia Marketing Board, Vincent Lacoburnier, expressed gratitude to the Parliamentary Representative for Castries Central and the Government of Taiwan for their assistance in increasing the Marketing Board's capacity as they continue their drive toward food and nutrition security. We recognize today that we have to go forward and the Marketing Board will continue to serve all our consumers to the best of our ability. We urge St Lucia's to continue to patronize the Board. We want you to continue to come and see the Product Conference. You'll be shocked and you'll be amazed to see whether Marketing Board is now and where we are planning to go. I will just say continue to eat fresh St Lucia's best. From fresh fruits and vegetables to agro-processed goods, Minister for Agriculture Honourable Alfred Prosper says this initiative is strategically placed to ensure that both consumers and local producers benefit from both the domestic and international agriculture industry. We know on a regular basis that we have guts in cucumbers, tomatoes and so on and our farmers tend to lose an income that they have worked very hard for. So we are asking our farmers to produce but when that time comes for them to sell the produce it is always a problem. I have heard calls by a number of persons asking why is it our tourism industry is importing so much food that can be grown right in St Lucia. It is time for us to take stock of what is happening and see how we can really focus on our farmers producing the commodities that we utilize in the hotels in St Lucia. So there will be a drastic reduction in our food import bill and our farmers will stand to benefit. From improved operation techniques at the St Lucia Marketing Board's Parkhouse, the strengthening of partnerships with initiatives such as the School Fielding Programme to this latest suite, Minister Prosper notes that the Marketing Board is well on its way to being a pioneering establishment in ensuring profitability, productivity and market development within the agriculture sector. From the Communications Unit of the Ministry of Agriculture, I am Anisia Antoine reporting.