 Welcome to NTN Nightly. I am Genelle Norville. This edition stops stories. Saint Lucia Distillers displays confidence in the economy with a $30 million expansion project. The Unthink Thought Festival examines the applied theories of Sir Arthur Lewis and meet the winners of the World Forest and Water Day competition. Prime Minister the Honourable Alan Shastney has hailed a multi-million-dollar expansion project by Saint Lucia Distillers as a clear indication of the resilience of the local private sector and the island by extension. Speaking at the official opening ceremony of the new facility, Prime Minister the Honourable Alan Shastney stated that the occasion offered an opportunity to take a pause and reflect on the impact of COVID-19 not just on a personal level but on the business community and the country. Noting the positive strides taken since the pandemic, the Prime Minister indicated that one should look forward to the future with optimism. Honourable Shastney welcomed the US $30 million expansion describing the project as appealing. The journey started many years before I know you came to Saint Lucia but we're very happy that you decided in 2016 to make Saint Lucia part of your history and I want to thank you personally that despite what was going on with COVID and the clear reflection that many people must make in terms of do I continue to invest? Do I continue to achieve the levels of excellence that I saw in your facilities in Martinique and continue that journey here in Saint Lucia? I want you to know that I'm certainly not one person, I'm one person who does not take your commitment and your continuation for granted. I want to thank you very very much. Noting the timeliness of the project, the Prime Minister explained its impact across the sectors. He added that given the direction in which the country is moving there are significant benefits to be had. This project is special for Saint Lucia because it crosses three very important sectors. Agro processing and I know that we're starting to plant back some sugarcane and that's a very good sign. Manufacturing in terms of processing and then tourism and then underlying those three things are two very separate markets. Our domestic market and what we call OECS and CARICON as well as the international market and our tourism market and this is our journey. This is what Saint Lucia has recognized that in order for us to reach the economies of scale to succeed on a global basis we must blend those three components. Honourable Shasne announced plans to take advantage of the waste from the distilling process. This he said will benefit not just the company but the island as a whole. And I have recognized that there is a substantial part of your input that is going to waste and that is the energy that you're creating from the distilling process to begin with. I was very heartened to see that Barbados recently announced that it reached an agreement with its electricity company that that electricity company now will be focusing on the distribution of electricity and no longer on the production of electricity. What does that mean for manufacturers? So all of a sudden an output of your manufacturing process that is going to waste not only potentially can supply the energy for your plant but also to be able to supply a cheaper source of energy into our own network. And until we're able to cross that hurdle we genuinely will not be successful to the extent that we are. So a valuable input is the energy that is locally produced here and it needs to be part of your process. And I assure you sir that my government continues to work to make sure that we can follow suit with what's taking place in Barbados. And hopefully very soon you will also be able to now benefit from being able to provide your own energy as well as selling energy into our grid. Other manufacturers and plant operators will also be able to benefit from this initiative. The legislation to support the move the Prime Minister explained is underway. Prime Minister V. Hon. Alan Chastney reaffirmed the government's commitment to creating a facilitating environment where all sectors are able to thrive.