 Prime Minister and Minister responsible for justice and national security, Honourable Philip J. Pierre, led a multi-agency delegation of government and security officials to the eighth session of the Franco-St. Lucia Joint Security Commission, which was held in Fort de France, Martinique, on December 14th. St. Lucia and Martinique officials deliberated on a range of cross-border concerns with the aim of further developing and implementing anti-crime strategies and establishing legal frameworks to advance judicial cooperation between the two territories. It is very important that St. Lucia and Martinique get together and stay together as far as the elimination of crime, drug trafficking and all the other evils that we are exposed to. As a government, we are willing to cooperate fully with French authorities to eliminate these scourges on our country. We know that cooperation is important and this week my cabinet will be asked to endorse an Interagency Intelligence Committee so that all the intelligence-guarding interluxia can be brought together under one committee so we can deal with the issues as they arise. The Franco-St. Lucia Joint Security Commission promotes cooperation between Fort de France and Castries on arms and narcotics trafficking, immigration and border management, judicial cooperation, maritime protocols and disaster management. Prime Minister Pierre's commitment to meeting the strategic goals of the Joint Security Commission signals his administration's unwavering intention to ensure national security on the St. Lucia side of the commission is protected and also continue cooperation to restrict illicit trafficking to the French side. In my budget, which is going to be ready in April, we have determined that national security will be at the forefront of our priorities this year. We intend to introduce new technologies to crime-fighting. We intend to increase the manpower and intelligence power of the police services and we intend to deal with more interagency collaboration both locally, regionally and internationally. I see this conference as a continuation of an effort to eliminate crime and corruption from our region so that the peoples of our two countries can continue to live in harmony without the threats of unscrupulous criminals and gangsters. The Franco-St. Lucia Joint Security Commission was established in 2004. The ninth session of the Franco-St. Lucia Joint Security Commission will be held in St. Lucia. From the office of the Prime Minister, Rihania Zudo.