 Thank you Mr. Speaker for the opportunity to make this statement in this honourable house as we observe November as business month. Mr. Speaker, the observance of November as business month was implemented by your humble servant in 2015 and the Ministry of Commerce has continued this observance ever since albeit in different forms and intensity. Mr. Speaker, the Ministry of Commerce continues to vigorously pursue a mandate of private sector development recognizing that the current global economic climate and ongoing distortions in international trade have up on our business community. Our focus therefore through our various programs and initiatives plays significant emphasis on supporting post-COVID-19 recovery of our businesses and more importantly in supporting wider efforts towards building economic resilience. In short Mr. Speaker, as a small island developing state we recognize that there is need not only for aggressive reaction towards these exogenous shocks that our economy experiences but rather that we must anticipate them and proactively work with our local businesses in mitigating them. To this end Mr. Speaker, my ministry has embarked on a range of initiatives involving a myriad of domestic, regional and international collaborators, stakeholders and sponsors. These programs are at various stages of implementation with the cumulative output set to become the catalyst for sustained growth of our private sector. In this regard Mr. Speaker, as our collective efforts reach the apex of this calendar year 2022, the Ministry of Commerce, my ministry, is proud to once again adopt the month of November as business month in celebration of the achievement of the ingenuity and the potential of our private sector. As business months dawned on the business community it brought with great exuberance and a myriad of opportunities for entrepreneurs as a business community. As a business month dawned on the business community it brought with great exuberance and a myriad of opportunities for entrepreneurs at all levels of the business cycle. As I said earlier, the ministry has beheaded these well anticipated month of activities since 2015 and if this is not sufficient evidence of the significance that our ministry and our government places on the evolution of our business ecosystem in St. Lucia. This year's theme, action today impact tomorrow, serves as an appeal for strategic action on the part of the business community to take advantage of the programs, projects and other initiatives available now as a means of solidifying the enterprise's future. As you note Mr. Speaker, my ministry's main branch is ideally located on the fourth floor of the Heverdon Rock building on the Cassry's Waterfront. We are blessed with a majestic and panoramic view of the Hever. But we spend most of our time focused more importantly on overseeing the affairs of our business community. And that business community comprises an estimated 76% of our micro and small and medium enterprises as per our last count. At statistics that we anticipate will increase through the upcoming enterprise sensors that is said to get underway in the coming months. This anticipated increase in MSME Mr. Speaker is brought about in part by the COVID-19 pandemic which displaced a number of our hardworking citizens. While some of these persons have since reverted to full-time employment, many have continued to engage in business activities and continue to require this government support. Therefore Mr. Speaker, through business months we have been featuring a plethora of activities that will lend support to this and other groups of St. Lucia's productive sector. Our program of activities include among others the 15th annual St Lucia Taiwan partnership trade show and this is for its 15th year St Lucia and Taiwan collaborated to provide increased trading and investment opportunities to our St Lucia businesses. The 15th annual Taiwan St Lucia trade show was held between the 2nd and the 4th of November this year at the Haber Club under the theme forging strong ties through sustainable trade. The event featured physically and virtually 45 St Lucia companies and 23 Taiwanese businesses. Leveraging existing and new opportunities across sectors that included food and beverage, ICT services, energy efficiency, health and duty, automobile parts and accessories, creative arts, business and consumer services among others. A key component of this year's event was the facilitation of business to business interaction between St Lucia and Taiwanese companies and the wider St Lucia business community including wholesalers and distributor outlets and other commercial agents. The objective of this activity was to develop strategic trading and networking alliances among all stakeholders. Mr. Speaker, many of our big businesses and exporters got much-needed visibility and opened doors through participation in the trade show. The current demand for participation far exceeds the available slot and for this reason plans are in progress to expand and ensure maximum participation in the ensuing year. Secondly, the community business forum which was launched in May 2022 continued throughout the month of November and will continue beyond this with the objective of directly engaging with business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs. To that Mr. Speaker, four of these activities have been held between the constituencies of Souffre, Rosile, Babono and Castery's East and a fifth plan for the constituency of Souffre's and we are dealing with the opposition and serving them well because they are members of this honourable house but the people in Souffre's are institutions so we are serving this coming Sunday we are planning for Souffre's and the sixth programme is scheduled for Castery's Souffre's in December. I mean 18 from these events Mr. Speaker, approximately 300 registrants continue to engage with my ministry and other participating agencies including the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Tourism, the Department of Economic Affairs, Export Centrucia, the Centrucia Bureau of Standards and the Centrucia Development Bank. To use the story in the Bible, this small seed that has been planted is quickly blossoming into a mustard tree that will continue to provide both shade and nourishment to our rural communities. Mr. Speaker, on November 17th, the Ministry hosted the MSME Business Banking and Regulatory Compliance Symposium to inform owners of small businesses of the value of business banking, business formalisation and regulatory compliance duties. MSMEs in Centrucia continue to struggle with a lack of access to capital. The root of the issue is that many of our MSMEs operate without having a formal business bank account due to various reasons. Mr. Speaker, on November the 24th, my ministry is going to post a government procurement symposium. The COVID and current global economic recession have exposed the vulnerability of the private sector, individuals and economies, falling for a rethinking and redirecting of government expenditure. This cries call for strong responses based on solidarity, cooperation and national pride in supporting what is truly Centrucia. As a government of Centrucia continues to institute policies to address these vulnerabilities, help rebuild the economy and strengthen the private sector, it remain mindful of its commitment to the principles of fair and balanced trade as a signatory to international and regional trade agreements. However, it is of importance that government take the lead by supporting and directing more of its spending towards domestic goods and services. To this end, the Ministry of Commerce in collaboration with other private and public sector organisations will have a symposium aimed at building resilience within the local economy, while sensitising manufacturers and service providers of government procurement policies and procedures. In addition to exposing the accounting and finance officers in the public sector to the wide range of local goods and services, to encourage them to buy local and to ensure that in doing so our economy grows and our small business sector benefits. Mrs Speaker, this symposium will be quickly followed with a crime prevention training workshop for businesses which is stated for November the 30th. Crime is such a worrisome atrocity and it resembles a giant squid with its tentacles meddling in all facets of our society. Only this morning we heard of the tragic passing of someone. So, Mr Speaker, no longer is crime just a predominantly social issue. Crime also impacts the growth of our businesses as well as our economy. I note here that increasing crime rate in Central Asia has been a recurring concern within the business community, as reported by private sector associations and documented in the most recent investment climate assessment survey. At this workshop, the Ministry of Commerce will be working with the Royal Central Asia Police Force to detach and debilitate these tentacles through topics such as basic crime prevention and personal safety, robbery of awareness and prevention and lost prevention training. Mrs Speaker, the Ministry believes firmly in the theme action to the impact tomorrow. And what are some of the other actions that we are taking? The Ministry Small Business Development Centre launched the Young Entrepreneurs in Action program designed to empower students and business owners to receive a mutual exchange of knowledge through a student internship program. The first one took place in August this year where 40 students in the fourth and fifth form at secondary schools throughout Sankusha were assigned to specific places of employment where they gained relevant job training in tandem with career aspirations which proved extremely vital for their development as future entrepreneurs. This event was a resounding success and a win-win situation for both the students and the employers who in some instances adopted the ideas of these innovative and creative interns. I take this opportunity to find the business owners who partnered with us in that regard. Mrs Speaker, this was followed by the training of trainers which is yet another milestone at the ministry to ensure that our businesses get adequate training and capacity building. This initiative was funded by the Government of Taiwan and just aim at improving sustainability among our small businesses. To date, 45 persons have received certificates for the recent participation in the training of trainers workshop and are well equipped to transfer their knowledge and build the capacity of our entrepreneurs. Mr Speaker, as a minister with responsibility for cooperatives, I will not rest until we are satisfied with the restoration and reform of our cooperative sector. Corporatives are businesses providing specific services to their members and must operate as such. I have engaged the features and famous cooperative sub sectors and subsequent to these fact-finding forums, we have completed a workshop in response to some of the immediate needs identified by the sub sector. In summary, Mr Speaker, these workshops were an effort to build the potential for registration and for better business argument in management of the cooperatives. Conversations have been held in the credit union sub sector to collaborate on some other initiatives to facilitate our efforts at sustaining our cooperative sub sector through the development of a visionary performance improvement plan, a plan which will aim to reform, restore and rebuild our cooperative sub sector. Our consultation will have no bounds as we said to collaborate on efforts to strengthen our economy, one sub sector at a time. Broadly, the plan looks at increasing training and better business documents, greater knowledge of the cooperative business model, increased membership among the youth, knowledge empowerment at the junior level because this will address the grain of our sector and succession planning. Mr Speaker, it is imperative that the cooperative sector embraces the entrepreneurial spirit to enhance its efficiency and effectiveness to members. Through these initiatives, Mr Speaker, the ministry hold true to its commission which is to help businesses become globally competitive by facilitating dialogue and training as well as financing the market research solutions that create real economic impact. It is on this proposition that the ministry provides continued support to the business community with the expectation of economic milestones in the future. Mr Speaker, I have started on-site visits to businesses starting in the north of the island and expect to continue these visits well into the new year until we have covered the entire island. I thank the business community for their understanding and patience in this matter. I want to thank the business community for their cooperation and place on record our gratitude to the government and people of Taiwan for their support in the various activities and to thank the staff of the Ministry of Commerce and I see here with us today the director of the Small Business Development Center and my prominent secretary. I want to publicly thank them and the staff of the ministry for their sterling support and service to the business community. I also want to thank the staff of the collaborating agencies and ministries Export Centrusha, the Centrusha Bureau of Standards, the Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Economic Affairs for the youth economy who have facilitated the various business forums in the constituencies on weekends. This whole of government collaborative approach in serving the people is commendable and should accelerate the pace of recovery of our economy. I thank you Mr Speaker.