 Welcome to Nation Beat. I am Genel Norvel bringing you this brief on the pulse of our nation and highlights around the heart of St. Lucia. St. Lucia's partnership with Taiwan heightened with the opening of the annual trade show. The island's prime minister emphasizes the need for foreign direct investment and traditional national day events make a return this December 12th. The 11th annual St. Lucia-Taiwan partnership trade show opened Friday 23rd November with increased participation from local businesses. The trade show highlights a wide range of quality goods and services from St. Lucia and Taiwan. In addition, businesses from both countries will profit the opportunity to develop strategic trading and networking alliances. Minister for Commerce, Industry, Investment, Enterprise Development and Consumer Affairs Bradley Felix highlighted the many benefits of the trade show to local and foreign businesses. Trade for St. Lucia is one which reveals a large and growing trade deficit as we all know. This situation suggests that we need to increase the level of domestic production in the goods that are locally demanded as well as our level of exports. Export expansion is critically important to generate the foreign exchange needed to sustain our level of importation and to ensure the sustainability of our balance of payments. It is against this background that this exhibition here today must be examined. Ambassador of the Republic of China Taiwan, His Excellency Douglas Shen, highlighted the significance of the trade show indicating that it has surpassed expectations over the years. Entrepreneurs are always the driving force of social development. So today, on the occasion of more than 60 entrepreneurs gathering together, my embassy would like to take this opportunity to contribute a small amount of money to the Mongolshe Edo Day Care Center. It is one of the first Edo Day Care Center in St. Lucia to raise awareness of social responsibility. We should not forget there is always need for the vulnerable in our society. In closing, I believe that you guys still remember the first ever St. Lucia Dragon Dance at our 10th anniversary last year. Acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Commerce, Industry, Investment, Enterprise Development and Consumer Affairs Peggy Anzoudat announced the ministry's intentions to make St. Lucia the premier destination for doing business. Among the local businesses, there are nine new entrants and I must tell you that those who are returning are doing so with new products. The displays range in areas such as servicing and merchandising, arts and entertainment, fashion, food and beverage, chemical and garment textile. This year, we reorganized and applied a more focused approach to the business to business sessions, a key feature of the trade show. The B2Bs offer a marketing and information platform for establishment and enhancement of the network structure to enable firms to grow and expand domestically and internationally. The options are open. We encourage the participants, both locals and foreign, and the specially invited businesses to explore the possibility for collaboration. Collaboration is a pal- The 11th annual St. Lucia Taiwan Partnership Trade Show opened at the Golden Palm Events Center, Rodney Heights, Grosling on the 23rd of November until the 25th of November, 2018. Prime Minister, the Honourable Alan Shasne is leading a delegation to the First United Arab Emirates UAE Caribbean Corporation Forum taking place in Dubai from the 24th to the 26th of November, 2018. The aim of the forum is not only to discuss a strategic bilateral relationship but also to find new areas of cooperation and opportunities in the field of investments, trade and culture. The delegation includes Minister for Economic Development, Housing, Urban Renewal, Transport and Civil Aviation, Honourable Guy Joseph, Minister with Responsibility for External Affairs, Honourable Sarah Flood-Bowbre, Honorary Counsel for St. Lucia to Lebanon, His Excellency Malik El Said, Permanent Secretary in the Department of Finance, Ms. Coinfield Thomas, Permanent Secretary in the Department of Economic Development, Mr. Philip Dalso and Budget Director Claudius Immanuel. Following the forum, the Prime Minister will head to Washington to the IMF headquarters to attend the IMF World Bank IDP high-level conference on Building Resilience to Disasters and Climate Change in the Caribbean. In the Prime Minister's absence, Minister for Education, Innovation, Gender Relations and Sustainable Development, Honourable Dr. Gil Rigabet will serve as Acting Prime Minister. Meantime, the Prime Minister says forums like UAE gathering is important to the sustainability of St. Lucia's economy. Lisa Joseph explains. St. Lucia's a small developing state has long been vulnerable to exogenous shocks that have had crippling effects on the economy. Prime Minister Hon. Alan Shastney notes that today, emerging threats are making survival far more difficult. Pointing to the devastation unleashed on neighboring Dominica by Hurricane Maria in 2017, Prime Minister Shastney says climate change is a clear and present danger for St. Lucia. Interfacing of the business community during the Chamber of Commerce Encounter series, the Prime Minister listed recent actions by the EU and OECD to flag St. Lucia's tax regime. Additional economic pressures he confided are coming to bear from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund's instruction to implement fiscal rules. This follows the crisis that has enveloped the Barbados economy. Those rules the Prime Minister continued will limit the government. Consequently, private sector involvement in the economy will be even more critical. Sir Dwight had been saying for years that we need to grow by four and a half to five percent per year for ten years in order to get out of the dilemma that we're in, the lack of viability. To do that we need investments of five and a half billion EC dollars in order to be able to achieve that. And the government is only allowed to invest a half a billion. So the rest of it has to come from the private sector. That's reality. And so do you really believe that that five billion dollars is sitting in the banks here in St. Lucia, that the private sector here by itself is going to be able to generate that level of investment? Against that background, Prime Minister Shasne emphasized the need for foreign direct investment in the country. So I have to say to the private sector that when you hear people in our community chastising foreign investment coming into this country, I'm horrified. And I'm hoping that you're going to be equally horrified. Anybody who is saying that we should be in breach of the rule of law in our country, you should be horrified. Because that is going to deeply impart the ability, impair the ability for us to track the necessary investment to grow. And it's only by growing that we can generate the revenues to be able to now have a surplus and to have the necessary monies to continue to invest in all those things that we have to do. Because we're not even reaching the bar. We're not reaching it in education. We're not reaching it in healthcare. We're not reaching it in security. We're not reaching it in infrastructure. Arising out of a meeting held on Thursday, November 22, 2018, among Consumer Affairs Department, St. Lucia Bureau of Standards and Environmental Health Division, the public has been advised not to eat imported romaine lettuce. Parker Raghunanan is the Assistant Chief Environmental Health Officer. Imported romaine lettuce may create a health hazard if consumed. And therefore, we are advising consumers who may be in possession of imported romaine lettuce to please discard it. Mr Raghunanan says information obtained from the Center for Diseases Control, CDC, indicates that some persons who have consumed romaine lettuce and romaine lettuce mixes have been affected and became sick with a pathogenic E. coli. The symptoms associated include bloody diarrhea, fever, malaise, and in some instances, you may have kidney failure as well. And as such, we are advising to stay away from that product at this time. Assistant Chief Environmental Health Officer Parker Raghunanan. This is Nation Beats. We're back in a moment. Welcome back. Reviewing the purpose of testing and assessments was one of the main topics at the recently concluded Regional Education Officers' Meeting held at the Marina Bay Haven Hotel. Alicia Ali reports. Chair of the meeting, St. Lucia's Chief Education Officer, Rafina Charles, explained testing was integral to maintaining standards in the curriculum. Currently, there are harmonized standards at the primary level from grade K to grade 6 across the subregion. And that is quite significant because there we are setting standards which goes across the OECS in terms of if our students move from one island to the other. We know what is expected of them at every grade level. It is also significant in that we have the original standards, the standards are set at the original level. And so it gives our students opportunities for education to move just straight into a school without having to undergo any form of assessment. The head of the Education Development Management Unit at the OECS Commission, Cicero Simon, reported that participants agreed the perception of assessments need to change. The board meeting participants believe that assessment is a major component of instruction and curriculum. However, there was need for us as a region to review our approach to it, to sensitize our teachers and the public on why are we using assessments. How assessments are to be used to improve instruction rather than assessment as it appears, which is often used as placement exams and labeling of students. The theme for this year's meeting was OECS Education Thought Interaction. From the Communications Unit in the Ministry of Education, Innovation, Gender Relations and Sustainable Development, I am Alicia Ali reporting. In an effort to inject more of the St. Lucian culture into the festive holiday season, the Office of the Mayor will be hosting a series of Mayor Day and National Day activities, commencing December 12, 2018, at the Derrick-Walkard Square. Lyndell Brown is the member of the planning committee. Our celebration begins immediately after this Festival of Lights. It begins at about 11 p.m. with a boulevard jam in the William-Peter Boulevard, and that will be commencing from approximately 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. The annual National Day Juve will then commence through the City of Cass Street. At 8 a.m., the Mayor's Mass will commence at the Cathedral, and immediately following, we will have a Mayor's Parade, which will go from the Cathedral and eventually lead back to City Hall. National Day activities will then kick off with the reintroduction of the greasy pole and greasy pig games, canoe racing and many more traditional events, and will culminate with a grand display of local talent. To the public, we want to assure you that there will be heavy police presence throughout all these events. We invite the entire nation, all corners of St. Lucia, to come and join the Mayor, the Council and our committee to participate in this National Day event. Cass Street City Counciler Lyndell Brown, that's a nation beat. Join us next time on NTN at 7.30 p.m. with a repeat at 7.30 a.m. and on this station as we fill the pulse and heart of our community. You can also catch up with us anytime on the St. Lucia Government Facebook page or YouTube channel. I am General Norvel.