 St. Lucia's Forensic Science Laboratory officially attained accreditation from the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation or A2LA in 2022. In 2023, United States Vice President Kamala Harris announced the Department of State will provide technical support and funding to designate St. Lucia's Forensic Science Laboratory, the Center of Excellence for Regional Forensics. Our summit and Center of Excellence launch comes from the vision that the staff at the Forensic Laboratory developed in 2019 and that vision states that we strive to be a recognized Center of Excellence for Forensic Science in the Caribbean region. We have received the support of the U.S. State Department through its Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Agency, INL, and they have supported our initiative or our drive to be a Center of Excellence. This event, the summit on the 10th of October, is our first event towards being a Center of Excellence and making a contribution regionally in Forensic Science, but more importantly, establishing ourselves as a Center of Excellence to provide forensic services, accredited forensic services to other countries in the region. The journey to A2LA accreditation status began in 2019 to meet the high threshold for accreditation. The professionals and administrators at the Forensic Science Lab had to ensure the various testing processes and operations conform with the rigorous requirements of the International Organization for Standardization. The benefits of the Forensic Science Lab's accreditation extend to the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court jurisdiction and other judicial bodies in the Karakom region. Litigants in civil and criminal court proceedings can be further assured of the reliability of the samples processed and analyzed by the Forensic Science Lab. It gives us an assurance that what we do, the results that we give out, are results that can be trusted. The courts need that trust within the evidence that we or the results that we give and so that gives the courts, the police, the public assurance that what they are getting is results that matter. The Forensic Science Laboratory's distinguished accreditation status commands international recognition, designated as the Center of Excellence for Regional Forensics, coupled with A2LA accreditation. Services provided by the Forensic Science Lab affords the government of St. Lucia international leverage and a unique opportunity to generate additional revenue for the country. Office of the Prime Minister