 The Climate Adaptation Financing Facility CAF Business Recovery Program was launched Friday, November 20, 2020 as the Government of St. Lucia continues to roll out incentives from the Economic Recovery and Resilience Plan. Prime Minister Hon. Alan Shastney earlier this year announced the Economic Recovery and Resilience Plan in a move to stimulate the economy by focusing on six pillars which will support, promote and protect the economy. The COVID-19 CAF Business Recovery Program will provide a blended grant loan facility to support businesses via the St. Lucia Development Bank with a focus on business continuity and recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic and to assist with climate resilience improvement. We recognize that St. Lucia as an island nation has, is vulnerable to all natural disasters and right now we see we've seen the impact of COVID on us and what we have been able to achieve through months of negotiations back and forth with the World Bank, the Ministry of Economic Development and Finance and the St. Lucia Development Bank is remarkable for us to be at this stage. The funding was a concessionary loan to the government of St. Lucia from the Climate Investment Fund and the pilot program for the climate resilience as part of the Disaster Vulnerability Risk Reduction Program, DVRP. According to the St. Lucia Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture Executive Director Brian Luizzi, the micro, small and medium enterprises community is on the front line of this economic crisis on account of their pre-existing structural vulnerabilities, particularly their inability to access credit and liquidity. He welcomed the opportunity for the local business community to access financial relief and support. Very early on in the crisis, the Chamber recognized that the MSMEs would be severely affected and we had urged the government that in its efforts to find the funding that we knew the country would require that the needs of the private sector and the MSME in particular should not be forgotten. Therefore, this initiative and project is extremely welcomed. Present at the loan ceremony was the Minister for Economic Development, Honourable Guy Joseph and PS for the Department of Finance, Miss Esther Rigabet and joining via Zoom was World Bank Program Leader for Sustainable Development and Infrastructure in the Caribbean, Vikram Khatrin. Prime Minister Shasne thanked the World Bank for their flexibility and seen the need to repurpose funds amidst the COVID-19 crisis and asked the private sector to access the support not only to help with liquidity but to help build resilience for future shocks brought on by the ever-present threat of climate change. The World Bank has been a constant support to St. Lucia during this crisis by allowing St. Lucia to repurpose program funds to better respond to the COVID pandemic where possible and the Victoria Hospital is another classic example of that. This nimbleness and agility with which the bank has operated over the past six months is certainly worthy of recognition and commendation. I urge the private sector to take full advantage of this opportunity not simply to access liquidity but also to build resilience in your business for future crisis and similar nature. I want to say that announcing this here today is only the first step and I'm really hoping that part of this initiative will be to have town hall meetings in the different constituencies with small businesses and involving local government to get the word out as much as possible and to assist persons in being able to prepare the paperwork for the application of these loans. So the work only begins today. More information about this loan grant facility can be accessed through the St. Lucia Development Bank via telephone number 456 7532 or visit their website at www.sldb.lc reporting for the office of the Prime Minister. I am Danielle Dubois.