 The Serving Crops project since inception has seen an increase in the production of the selected Serving Crops, the revitalization of Agriculture Intelligence Information Systems, the establishment of stable markets for farmers, and the introduction of new technologies, all with the goal of lowering St Lucia's food import bill. Phase 2 of the joint initiative by the Ministry of Agriculture and the Taiwan Technical Mission will see an expansion to include crops other than the initial Serving Crops chosen. Ambassador of the Republic of China Taiwan to St Lucia, His Excellency Peter Shai and Chen, pledged Taiwan's support to continue to work with the people of St Lucia to support the growth and development of the agriculture sector in St Lucia. As our work continues to confront worsening climate emergencies such as severe storms, hurricanes, and extreme weather, food security has come under serious threat. In that regard, Taiwan Technical Mission will continue to provide assistance including promote diversified production, establish a high efficiency production model, and strengthen the sales and marketing mechanism for local agricultural products. Today, on behalf of the Government of the Republic of China Taiwan, I am honored to sign the action plan together with Honourable Minister Prosper for the enhancing the efficiency of production distribution supply chain in fruit and vegetable sector in St Lucia. Second term. Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Rural Development Honourable Alfred Prosper expressed gratitude to the government and the people of Taiwan for their ongoing support in developing St Lucia's agriculture sector. Minister Prosper also explains that whilst phase 2 of the project will allow for continued production assistance to stakeholders and farmers, the project's primary focus will be on market access and marketing. As a ministry, as a government, we are concerned about the market requirements in terms of farmers being able to get a good price because it's about livelihoods, it's about impacts, it's about making money for our farmers. It makes no sense giving them the fertilizers, the seeds, all the support but at the end of the day they are unable to make money and you have gluts and they are not able to get the kind of revenue that they deserve for the hard work. It is very important that we focus on reducing our food import bill because I am really concerned that we are importing a number of commodities that I believe we can grow sufficiently in St Lucia and I'm hoping that this phase of the project can focus more on those commodities. So at the end of the five years or even midway during the five years we can see a serious trend in terms of reducing that food import bill. The second phase of the enhancement of efficiency of the production distribution supply chain in the fruits and vegetable sector project will run for a period of five years, culminating in 2022. From the communications unit of the Ministry of Agriculture, I am Anicia Antoine reporting.