 Prime Minister and Minister responsible for justice and national security, Hon. Philip J. Pierre, will lead the CARICOM's principal organ responsible for developing and coordinating regional security policies, the Council for National Security and Law Enforcement. Prime Minister Pierre takes over from Deputy Prime Minister and National Security Minister of Jamaica, Hon. Dr. Horace Chang. The St. Lucia Prime Minister's newly assumed chairmanship of the Council for National Security and Law Enforcement affords the island's law enforcement and judicial agencies unique opportunities for exchanges and engagements with member states and associate jurisdictions to enhance regional security policies, to complement and strengthen St. Lucia's own national security agenda. The outgoing chair of the Council for National Security and Law Enforcement stressed the need for continued cooperation among regional security agencies to effectively combat crime. The Caribbean is in the middle of two large continents, criminal activity, suppliers of for example narcotics, heavy in Southern North America, and on the other hand the biggest market in North America, we're in the middle of all of that, and a lot of other things. So we have to work together to protect our nation and as a small country, the more we pull together, the better, the more successful we will be. Said like anything, if you have several cars, you make a thread of it, a rope of it, it's stronger than if you have them pulling individually. So the objective is to increase the level of collaboration and cooperation. St. Lucia would have helped us, we can better help St. Lucia. The Council for National Security and Law Enforcement lends support to caracom member states on matters of crime and national security by providing the necessary technical and legal assistance that will ultimately ensure law and order prevails. We saw consulate this year when we convened in Jamaica that discussed the common problem of the Caribbean region and the need for us to collaborate and cooperate. I think over the years we have not done much of that in the area of security. I think the emerging challenges of the cyber security for example has no physical address and in fact can go anywhere and in fact can damage small economies severely. Gangsters and transnational crime is a problem in the Caribbean region because we sit between North America and South America. So we have to find a way to work together to strengthen our capacity to deal with the issues and to share experience, share human resources and share best practices as a family we can be much more effective in dealing with these problems. For the first time as prime minister and minister responsible for justice and national security, Honourable Philip J. Pierre will lead the Council for National Security and Law Enforcement and utilize its resources to strategically attack crime and dismantle and disrupt the activities of criminal networks and organizations domestically and regionally. From the office of the Prime Minister, Rihanny Isidou.