 Fellow St. Lucians, wherever you may have roamed, as we celebrate our 43rd anniversary of independence, I bid you best wishes and heartfelt greetings. Our theme for this year's celebrations, Dufour Assam, celebrating our people, suggests that we should move forward, we should move ahead, together, celebrating our people, celebrating us as a people. I'm reminded of the Reasons Band 1997 hit song Woi, which has the simple starting phrase, Noon Dufour, we're ahead. So let's endeavor to be ahead together as one people. Let's put each other first. It is indeed a great honor to once again be working with you in the interests of our country's development. You are such an important cog in the wheel of our national development, and I want to keep reminding you that this importance is not going unnoticed. You are very much in the forefront of the thoughts of our esteemed Prime Minister, the Honorable Philip J. Pierre, our distinguished Minister of External Affairs, International Trade, Civil Aviation, and diaspora affairs, the Honorable Alva Arbaptis, and the Government of St. Lucia. From them, there is a pledge and commitment to work closely with you in the pursuit of our national development goals. A number of new initiatives have been proposed and will be pursued to deepen and widen the scale and scope of interaction between you in the diaspora and agencies, officials, and individuals at home. Some of these initiatives will target improving the efficiency with which the needs for retired nationals are processed by banking institutions here. Orders will address specific workflow recognition of the woody contributions made by nationals who are based outside of St. Lucia. Yet other initiatives will include promoting the use of the homeland by you as a seasonal remote work location and the offer of citizenship to second generation nationals born overseas, among much more. It is all in an effort to facilitate and appreciate your contribution to our mutual development. As I close, let me again wish everyone a happy 43rd anniversary of independence and express my sincere wish for our continued collaboration for the benefit of our country. I thank you.