 in ambassadors, changes in press secretaries, changes in councillors and deputy councillors, changes in ministers of economic development, and changes in prime ministers. However, there has been something that has been unchanged, and it has been the cordial relationship between St. Lucia and the Republic of China on Taiwan. St. Lucia has benefited immensely from this arrangement, particularly in the areas of funding and technical assistance, but the Republic of China-Taiwan has also benefited from our support to them at the international level. So it's been truly a symbiotic relationship. As the department that coordinates the bilateral cooperation agreement, we have had a good relationship with the embassy. So we pray that that continues, and that it will be enhanced. The relationship has been governed by the bilateral cooperation agreement that was inked in December 2017. And as we come to the end of one bilateral cooperation agreement and look forward to another, we anticipate continued collaboration between our two countries. My department continues to play a key role in coordinating the execution of the agreement and to ensure that indeed we are putting St. Lucia's first. Of course, we welcome this final tranche under the agreement and look forward to the continued role that is played by our department, together with the embassy, in coordinating the implementation of this project. And we do hope that it will continue to benefit both the people of St. Lucia and the Republic of China on Taiwan. With these words, I wish to thank you. Thank you, Mr. Emmanuel. I would now like to call on his Excellency, Peter Chen, Ambassador to the Republic of China, Taiwan, to deliver remarks. Honorable Philly JPA, Prime Minister, and Minister for Finance, Economic Development, and Youth Economy. All the Honorable Cabinet Ministers, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, good morning. 2021 is still a challenging year, not only for St. Lucia and Taiwan, but also for every country around the world. However, I would like to applaud Honorable Prime Minister Philly JPA and the Government of St. Lucia for the leadership you exemplify in combatting the pandemic, and recognize every solution for your efforts to follow the necessary health protocols, which has proven critical for containing the spread of the virus. CDP projects are not only backbone for invigorating economic growth, especially when facing this COVID pandemic, but also one of the key measures to accelerate actions toward adaptation to climate change impacts, and an important strategy to meet people's needs. To incorporate local communities, businesses, civil society in a joint effort, Taiwan is proud to be part of that. At this inflection point, Taiwan will continue to stand by St. Lucia on its way to achieve United Nations' sustainable development goals and to shape a better future. Thank you. Please stay healthy and safe. Thank you, Ambassador Chen. This Government is committed to putting the people of St. Lucia first, and the constituency development program will do just that, to ameliorate the lives of everyday citizens in every constituency in St. Lucia. I would now like to call on Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Economic Development, and the Youth Economy, Honorable Philip J. Pierre. Thank you very much. Let me recognize the other members of the Cabinet of Ministers. The Prime Minister, the Minister of Economic Development, the Ambassador to the Republic of China and Taiwan, and the members of the Head Table. Good morning. It's actually a bittersweet moment this morning, since most of us in this room, or those of us who were parliamentary representatives in the last five years, in the last two, never had the pleasure or the honour of being involved in the receipt of funds for the CDP. That was sad because our constituencies, the people who live in our constituencies, they dissolved. They dissolved these funds, and they thought that the representatives should have been given the privilege of not only securing these funds, but distributing these funds as they suffice. But as they say, time, time. And today, we found ourselves in a situation where we are the government, and we are going to be receiving these funds, and I can assure you, these funds are going to be distributed through all 17 constituencies. Because the people of Saint Lucia must come first. And the people of Saint Lucia means the people who support both political parties. It cannot be right that for a period of four years, six constituencies in this country were starved of CDP funds. They were starved in a way that was vulgar. But the people, and the people that we always speak of, the people decided that had to come to a halt, and the people caused the change to take place. And let me assure the people who support the other party that the CDP funds will be distributed in their constituencies because they were elected by the people. But having said so, it's pleasing this morning to be involved in a grant and not a loan. As we speak, this country is indebted, sovereign debt of $3.9 billion, and debt that is not sovereign, but debt which we owe, and the people will have to pay it, of over $500 million. That is the state of debt in this country, and that debt was incurred before July the 26th. But we have to deal with it, and I can tell you there are very exciting projects ahead, very exciting times ahead. So whereas it's going to be difficult times, it's going to be times where we have to put our heads together. But there is hope because there is a new vision, a new feeling, a new sense of transparency, a new sense of accountability, and the prospects look good for Saint Lucia going forward. These $612,000 US dollars will be used for community projects. It's also going to be used to clean up Saint Lucia. I'm sure many of you look at the state of this country, the virgins, there are some areas in the country where the bush actually is on the road. That cannot happen, a country cannot continue to look like that, and in all constituencies we'll try to use some of that $612,000 US dollars to clean Saint Lucia, to have a new spirit, a freshness, a cleanliness in this country. And you can't have a country where it seems to be developing but where the people are not part of that development. And I'm asking the ambassador that I'll be knocking on his door very shortly to have possibly one put in front of the $612,000 for more cleanup projects because I can assure him because of the state of this country, the $612,000 will surely not be enough to clean it up but we're going to use part of it to clean this country. I also want to tell my colleagues that I've been having discussions with the ambassador and very shortly we're going to make a statement or announcement on the first initiative in the youth economy. The ambassador has promised that our first initiative in the youth economy is going to be funded by the people of Taiwan. So I look forward to that. It's a very touching time. It's very touching because I remember some time ago it was our government that decided that the Taiwanese grant funds would have to go into the consolidated fund and we were the ones who created, who invented, if I can use that word, the idea of the handover of these checks because there was a time when these checks were not handed over to the accountant general. And in the spirit of accountability and transparency, we started that a few years ago and we are back here to ensure that this happens. So ambassador, you will get a full report on how these funds were used. These funds you will know exactly where they went. You know exactly who benefited from them. I know exactly what communities benefited from them because we are government of transparency and a government of accountability. So I thank you very much. I look forward to the signing of the other agreements. And as I said, I will be knocking on your door very shortly to see if you can create some good chair for the people of St. Lucia coming very soon for Christmas, which is just a few weeks away. So I thank you very much and please convey our thanks and also our sympathies and our condolences to the families of the people who lost their life in the fire in Taiwan. I thank you very much and do have a good day. Thank you very much, Honorable Prime Minister. We will now have the moment we've all been waiting for, the handing over of the check to from the Republic of China Taiwan to the government of St. Lucia. The check will be received by the accountant general on behalf of the people of St. Lucia office, the office of the accountant general receipt. And we will now have a presentation from the Honorable Prime Minister on behalf of the people and the government of St. Lucia to the ambassador of the Republic of China on Taiwan representing a thank you it's Manila Edvalof with the letter expressing gratitude on behalf of the people of St. Lucia. Thank you everyone. We've now come to the end of our short presentation but very meaningful and we know how it will impact the lives of thousands of St. Lucians. To do the vote of thanks I would like to call on Honorable Wayne Gerard, the minister in the ministry of finance, economic development and the youth economy. Honorable Prime Minister, Ambassador Chen, Cabinet colleagues, invited guests, good morning. It is said that everyone has a friend during each stage of life but only the lucky ones have the same friend in all stages of life. St. Lucia's independence in 1979, the government and people of the Republic of China and Taiwan have extended a hand of friendship to the people of St. Lucia and has accompanied us in every stage of our development. This friendship has been very tangible from its early beginning with a small Taiwanese agricultural cooperation mission here in 1979 to assistance in education today which St. Lucia students now study in Taiwan through the scholarships from the government of Taiwan, financial aid to St. Lucia, not only in times of crisis but in regular contributions that have enabled the establishment of the constituency development program, a program that has been invaluable to the development of our communities and constituencies. This presentation today is the latest symbol of this friendship, a friendship not of luck but born of mutual respect for our democratic traditions and historic conditions and so let me extend the profound gratitude of the government and people of St. Lucia to you Ambassador Chen and through you to the government and people of the Republic of China, Taiwan for this contribution today and for your continued friendship. Let me assure you that it is a relationship that we value and the people of St. Lucia will continue to support the people and government of Taiwan. When this administration took office just two and a half months ago, it was our understanding that the allocation for this year's constituency development program was exhausted. So I want to give special thanks to our Prime Minister, Hon. Philip J. Pierre, who has successfully negotiated this donation that we have received today which will go towards assisting our people at this difficult time. Hon. Prime Minister, your dedication to fulfilling your commitment to the people of St. Lucia to put them first is truly appreciated and we thank you for your passion and your leadership. Finally, let me say thanks to all who made this ceremony possible today. Let us continue to work together for an enduring relationship between the government and people of the Republic of China, Taiwan and the government and people of St. Lucia. I thank you. Thank you very much Hon. Bill Gerard and thank you St. Lucia for joining us for this occasion. Again, memorable an occasion that will impact the lives of thousands of St. Lucians. So as we leave you, we are actually going to have another presentation, sadly will not be carried live but will be reported in the media this evening. The government of St. Lucia will hand over two police vehicles to the Royal St. Lucia Police Force after this presentation. So look forward to the work being done by the government of St. Lucia on behalf of the people. I thank you for joining us. I'm Monty Lewis, your chairperson and press secretary to the Prime Minister. Thank you.