A very good afternoon to you or good evening to you and welcome back to the St. Lucia House of Assembly where a sit-in is at the moment taking place. This morning into the afternoon three bills were passed. The recording of court proceedings bill, the Eastern Caribbean Securities Regulatory Commission Agreement and the Firearms Amendment. On this the anniversary of the election of July 26, Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Philip J. Pierre thanked the people of St. Lucia for electing the current administration to govern and pledged to continue to put the people and this country first. He also indicated that the promise to pay pensions, 500 stipend is on track and that money is already in the bank. The Prime Minister also said that after consultation with the National Insurance Corporation that the NIC pensioners also be granted an increase, 4.3% to be exact and this would be retroactive to July 1st. The speaker is back in the chamber and will soon be going to him. The PM also spoke to the recording of court proceedings and he was supported by the members of the O4 North who also thanked the people of that constituency for re-electing him on this the anniversary of the election of July 26. The speaker is about to commence the proceedings and will go to the speaker's chair. Good afternoon members. When we rose for lunch we had just concluded debate on the Firearms Amendment Act. Prime Minister and Finance Minister. The speaker I beg to present for second reading a bill shortly entitled the Youth Economy Agency. Mr Speaker, on the 26th of April, Mr Speaker, during my budget statement to this horrible house, I said the following. Mr Speaker, one of the main challenges facing our country is youth unemployment which remains high on the government's priorities. Youth disenchantment continues to be a perennial problem with over 15,000 young people unemployed despite several youth-related business programs conducted by NGOs and public and private sector agencies operating in St. Lucia. It is because my administration believes that every young person irrespective of their socioeconomic circumstances has the potential to make a positive contribution to the development of the community that we have taken up the responsibility to address the apparent deficiencies in the existing youth-related business programs. In addressing these deficiencies my government will not duplicate existing initiatives but will support the ones that work and supplement them with new and innovative ideas that meet the needs and aspirations of the youth. In the last January election we promised to create a special space in the economic system for young people to develop and grow their ideas, a youth economy. Mr Speaker, the youth economy aims at transforming hobbies into entrepreneurship and skills into business by providing committed young people with finance, training, mentorship and marketing support. The youth economy will provide support services and business opportunities for young persons with interests in activities such as sports, music, entertainment, the literary and performing arts, modeling, designing, writing and directing, agriculture, agro-possessing, blue economy and green economy. The youth economy will be managed through a statutory board with its own board of directors to avoid unnecessary bureaucracy and to allow for a timely decision making that is consistent with a modern business environment. The statutory board will collaborate in the formulation of outreach programs in communities with public and private sectors, social partners with particular emphasis given to at-risk urban and rural youth. The membership of the board of directors will be gender balanced and adequate youth representation. The statutory body will adjust for focal areas, training, marketing, finance, loans and grants, mentorship. Training will consist the strengthening of existing and viable business enterprises, identification of workable new business ideas and opportunities, research and development, innovation and technological upgrade, certification capacity building with training in strategic planning, skill and talent development, emotional intelligence and the implementation of international standards and best practices. The statutory body will be designed to include market research, assistance in branding and packaging to the use of e-commerce, website design, development and modernizing social media platforms, finance and grants for the purchase of equipment for existing and viable businesses, the reforagement of equipment and smart technologies, the provision of working capital and support for new and emerging economic sectors in the blue, orange economies. Talented youth from low-income families should not be denied the opportunity to monetize their skills because they cannot afford the necessary equipment. Talented young athletes should no longer be denied the opportunity to participate in regional and international competitions because of the lack of access to finance, to purchase sporting gear and to secure travel arrangements. These impediments will be corrected. Mentorship, mentorship will cover exposure and appreciation for best business practices, the development of discipline, the need to be accountable and the value of persistence. In keeping the government's commitment to the young people, an amount of $10 million is provided for the youth economy under the Department of Economic Development in the estimates for 2012-2013. The youth economy is the first step in transforming the solution economy given by technology, innovation and entrepreneurship, where young people, regardless of their socioeconomic backgrounds, can become more active participants in wealth and nation building. And Mr. Speaker, this is the thinking behind the bill that I'm presenting here. This is from Mr. Speaker. And Mr. Speaker, for the... Let me make it clear that the rumor that out of the $10 million, only $2 million will be used for youth programs is as usual a rumor. And I want to tell you, Mr. Speaker, that in the bill, on the section, on the section 40, Mr. Speaker, you will see management of finances and application of revenue. The revenue of the agency in the financial year may be applied for the payment of interest and other charges on and the payment of a loan payable by the agency. Remuneration payable under this act. Expenses incurred by the agency in the discharge of its functions under this act. Such expenses must not exceed 20% of the revenue of the agency without the written permission of the minister with responsible finance. So if the agency gets $10 million, 20%, you cannot spend more than 20% on administrative expenses. So the belief that only $2 million would be spent for development is wrong. So it's clear in the bill. So Mr. Speaker, this youth economy act, Mr. Speaker, sets up a youth, the youth economy agency, Mr. Speaker. Yep. And Mr. Speaker, as we said clearly, it's a statutory board that has the flexibility, the flexibility, Mr. Speaker, to run the youth economy program. It's fine. It is run by a board, Mr. Speaker, and it's also an evaluation committee. Mr. Speaker, I will take you to the board first so that we can deal with what the board ought to do, Mr. Speaker. Mr.  The functions of the agency are to implement the youth economy program, to prepare and retain financial statements in respect of each financial year, to prepare a strategic plan, financial plan, operations plan, and business plans, to prepare estimates of revenue and expenditure, and to advise the minister on all matters relating to the youth economy program, and to perform other functions specified in this act. These are the functions of the youth economy agency, Mr. Speaker. The agency is run by a board, and the board comprises of the minister, shall appoint five persons of the board from persons who have experienced in and have shown capacity in matters relating to law, business management, career development, finance, entrepreneurship, information and communication technology, and youth development programs. The ex-official members of the board with no voting rights are the CEO and the permanent secretary of the ministry responsible for the youth economy. The minister shall designate one member of the board as the chairperson of the board, Mr. Speaker. The board is appointed for a term not exceeding three years. The functions of the board, to set the mission, values, strategic priorities, objectives, performance targets, and organizational policies of the agency, to prepare and submit to the minister a strategic plan for the youth economy program, to monitor the performance of the agency against the strategic plan, to receive and approve applications for the youth economy program, to review the performance of the chief executive officer, to make recommendations to the minister for the development of the youth economy program. Mr. Speaker, the powers of the board, the powers of the board are to appoint and determine the functions and duties of a committee to exercise any other powers specified under this act or other enactments. And the board may by resolution of its members delegate its functions to one or more of its members, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the board comprises of an evaluation committee. The evaluation committee, and I'll tell you why, shall consist of the chairperson, the chief executive officer, and any other member of the board. So out of the board, three members form the evaluation committee. And what are the functions of the evaluation committee, Mr. Speaker? They are to review an application for access to the youth economy program, to make recommendations to the board on applicants to be considered for the youth economy program, and to perform other functions as assigned by the board. So within the board, there is an evaluation committee comprised of three people who will evaluate the proposals, the business plan, et cetera, that come to the board, Mr. Speaker. And the evaluation committee can co-opt people from other places to help them in the evaluation of that program. Mr. Speaker, the rest of, as it relates to the board, it deals with appointments, resignations, the minutes of the meeting, how meetings supposed to be run, et cetera. These are the other functions of the board, Mr. Speaker. The board, Mr. Speaker, shall be run by a chief executive officer, a CEO who will manage the day-to-day affairs of the agency, and the functions of the chief executive officer. The chief executive officer is to implement the strategic plan and compliance issues set by the board and other decisions of the board to measure and attain performance targets approved by the board, to communicate decisions of the board, policies and priorities to the employees of the agency, to present organizational performance reports and estimates of every next measure to the board, and to attend meetings of the board unless directed otherwise. So the board appoints the CEO, Mr. Speaker, who will be involved in the day-to-day running of the agency, the youth economy agency. So, Mr. Speaker, the other section deals with the regular functions of the CEO, and, Mr. Speaker, as usual, we need accountability for the agency, and, as I said before, the revenue of the agency can be comprised of money raised by the agency in the form of loans, grants, investment, all the lawful means, slums allocated by the agency to the agency by parliament, and that was the $10 million that we spoke of, Mr. Speaker, and any fees that the agency may charge, Mr. Speaker. The rest of the act as it relates to the agency deals with the financial statements, Mr. Speaker. There must be an audit. The agency shall, within three months, after the end of each financial year, have its accounts audited by an independent auditor appointed by the agency, shall conduct the audit in accordance with the generally accepted international standards, Mr. Speaker. Then the agency shall submit to the minister a quarterly report outlining data on the youth economy, etc., Mr. Speaker. These are the functions of the agency. Now, Mr. Speaker, you have the agency. You have the agency is run by the board and the evaluation committee, which is part of the board. Then, Mr. Speaker, you have the youth economy program, which basically is what the youth economy is all about. And as I said before, the youth economy is designed to cause young people to convert their hobbies into entrepreneurship and their skills into business by getting involved in the youth economy program. A young person may make an application to the board to access the youth economy program. If the young person is a national, is operating a micro business enterprise for at least one year or intends to operate a micro business enterprise, Mr. Speaker, and that is important. If he intends to, if he intends to, or if he is presently in, he or she is presently in, they can apply to the youth economy program. And then the young person must not be a bankrupt. We respect a young person to be a bankrupt, at least not yet. And he has no outstanding tax and social security obligations. That is customary, Mr. Speaker. Now, Mr. Speaker, to apply to the program, there is a form, as is said in Section 462, Mr. Speaker. Now, an application on Section 2 must be in the prescribed form accompanied by, in the case of a micro business enterprise, that means if the business is already existing, a certificate of incorporation or certificate of registration on the registration of business names act. And that is the difference, Mr. Speaker, one difference is where the value of the application is more than $5,000. If you are applying to the program for more than $5,000, you may have to get a banker's reference, if any. If you can't get a banker's reference, you have to produce your banker's reference. If you have financial statements, if any, you have to produce it. A business plan, if any. But, Mr. Speaker, where the value of the application is less than $5,000, if it's less than $5,000, Mr. Speaker, the only thing you have to present is the prescribed information or documents requested by the board. And I'll tell you why that is important, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there are many, many young people who want to go into a micro business. Again, example, young people who do hairdressing, young people who want to get involved in animation, in graphic designs. They need a computer. They need a dryer. They need a chair if they go into hairdressing, Mr. Speaker, which costs less than $5,000. All we are saying to them is that you do not have, as a start, you don't have to get significant over-incorporation. You don't have to get bank reference. You can come into the agency. You will be interviewed. And once you can satisfy the agency that you have the will and the discipline, and you have a certain market that you can service, Mr. Speaker, and the amount that you need is less than $5,000, you will get it without all the bureaucracy, all the bureaucracy, all the paperwork that is needed. And that is specifically, Mr. Speaker, that young people from the inner cities, young people with low income, their parents could not leave anything for them, Mr. Speaker. Their parents, they haven't got anything. Their parents, they don't have any money. Their parents haven't got any business, but they have an idea. And the idea is it will cost less than $5,000. So youth economy program will make that $5,000 available if you can follow certain criteria, Mr. Speaker. But, Mr. Speaker, having said so, if the young person is in business already and they want to get more than $5,000, the agency will help them to prepare a business plan. The agency, the agency hasn't just prepared a business plan, the agency will help them to source markets and to prepare a marketing plan, and the agency will also help them in training to upscale themselves. And that has already started because there is a program being run at the Morn for the Ministry of Commerce, Mr. Speaker, which is called upskilling, where young people are being trained to improve their skills. I think it is hospitality and in health-related businesses, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, it is very important that young people who do not have what they call in the local language, baka, who needs little amounts of money, $2,000, $2,000, $5,000, can get it in quick time so that they can begin their small business. And from there, we will train them, we will mentor them, and they can expand to get into for their business to grow, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, there are certain young people, Mr. Speaker. We want, sometimes, we see that young people, they're not ambitious, or they don't want to work, or they're lazy, et cetera. I don't think so. What I think is that we have to find means of employment that young people want to get involved in, things that they want to do. And sometimes, nothing wrong in working in hotels. I don't want anybody to misquote me. Nothing wrong is an honorable profession. Nothing wrong in working in call centers. They pay a decent wage. Absolutely nothing wrong in that. But there are certain young people who do not want to do these kind of things. Young people who want to go into agro-processing, young people who want to go into a different type of agriculture, young people who want to go, right now, there are many young people involved in the bee industry, the cultivation of bees. Young people, they want to go into that kind. They want to go into modern fishing. They want to get involved in areas that allow them to use their own expertise, use their own skill, use their own knowledge, Mrs. Speaker. So what do we want to do then? We want to train them, Mrs. Speaker. To promote them, we want to train. So the youth economy program will comprise a lot of training. We need to train them, Mrs. Speaker, so that they can upskill. And then I said, that is already starting solution. We need to give them the opportunities. We came into the honorable house and we passed a bill on leashing the Blue Economy program. The Blue Economy is a wide area of investment that is possible. We hope that young people can get involved in skills that are needed in the Blue Economy. Mrs. Speaker, we need to organize these young people. And again, the youth economy agency will help them organize, help them form into probably cooperatives, probably into small companies to help them to organize so they can grow, Mrs. Speaker, so they can bring their skills together and they can grow. Mrs. Speaker, I'll give you an example. Every year, about a million tourists come to St. Lucia, about $700,000, $700,000 of them for cruise ships and about $300,000, about a million come to St. Lucia every year, on average. There are several things that we can offer these tourists that can make them live more of that money into St. Lucia. The Minister of Tourism has been lamenting how a lot of money lives in St. Lucia, Mrs. Speaker. The youth economy, and I'm sure there are young people, I'll give you an example. In the business of hair braiding, Mrs. Speaker, there are many tourists who want to braid their hair like locals. We can, what do these young people need? Probably a chair, a comfortable chair, probably, or something of that nature, the youth economy can help. In the business of massaging, what do they need? A table, we can assist, Mrs. Speaker. Mrs. Speaker, in the business of manicuring, pedicuring, just think about it. How would it be if a tourist comes and a young person can put on their fingernails a little map of St. Lucia, or like a flag, like what I have on me there. You can imprint it on the nails because young people have long nails, so it puts St. Lucia on the end. Mrs. Speaker, and I'm sure with support, and because young people are very, very, very talented, what they need is support, Mrs. Speaker. And they already don't need a lot of money, you know. They need support, they need direction, and they did trade, Mrs. Speaker. In Maldon, Mrs. Speaker. I mean, all of us will agree that St. Lucia has many attractive young ladies. What do you laugh at? Mrs. Speaker, you know, we put them for, we couldn't know. That's a museum? There are many, many attractive young ladies and I may say not only young ladies, Mrs. Speaker, young men too, men modeling too, you know what I'm saying? So we can develop a serious modeling agency with these young people. Last, there was a program to export the runway, Mrs. Speaker. Look at the talent. What about all these designers, these designers, these people, we can, the youth economy can encourage them making a necessary finance and helping them, creating opportunities for them, Mrs. Speaker, creating avenues for them to reach global standards. Sports, Mrs. Speaker, sports. We have to start to look at sports now as an, even as an export crop. Because there are a number of leagues all over the world, football, cricket, someone in basketball, Mrs. Speaker. Something, last year, last year, a young man came to us, Mrs. Speaker. He got a professional contract to play in France, to play basketball in France, Mrs. Speaker. But because he wasn't fortunate, he didn't have anybody to give him any backer. He could not, his coach told him, once he gets to France, he will pick him up and he'll take care of him. Just has to get to France. He couldn't afford to get to France. He didn't have the money to get to France, Mrs. Speaker. So what we are saying is, we'll treat that as an economic issue and it can come into the youth economy agency and probably, and that is why we've put the $5,000 limit. He can come and probably get a ticket for him to go to France to play basketball. And these are the ways, these are the ways we want to change people's lives, Mrs. Speaker. So we wanted to cut the bureaucracy. We want to cut off some of the bureaucracy like this for young people, because young people get frustrated. And only some time ago, we were speaking about the banks, where to open a bank account, you need two forms of ID. So we want to cut off some of the frustration. And that is why, because $5,000 may sound as nothing, but for many young people, if they had $5,000, that would give them a serious start for what they want to do. And that is why, Mrs. Speaker, we are making these changes or initiating that, Mrs. Speaker. The business of incentives, Mrs. Speaker. Every day, we give incentives to all kind of, all developers, we revive, nothing wrong in that, they say we have to create their neighborhood environment for investment, Mrs. Speaker. But what about a young person, Mrs. Speaker? This bill says that if a young person wants to go into a business and the value of the incentives that he needs is less than $20,000 or less, the agency can award these incentives, Mrs. Speaker. You don't have to go to cabinet, et cetera. Can be awarded, these agencies can be awarded. These incentives can be awarded to the young person if they want to bring in something, except things like motor vehicles. We won't give you that. If you want to bring equipment or you want to bring your play, we'll get you instantly. Once it's approved, instantly you're gonna get duty-free concessions. If it's above that, then you have to go through the normal procedure, Mrs. Speaker. And what are these exemptions? 100% customs duty exemptions on imports. You're gonna fix your footage and fittings. 100% duty exemption on imports of alternative energy and energy saving equipment devices and fittings used for the approval of the economy project. 100% exemption from the payment of value-added tax on building material, equipment, and locally produced art and craft. 100% exemption from payment of cooperation tax. Speaking about art and craft, Mrs. Speaker. The whole business of art, of craft, we, I think in the last time we were in the house, we spoke about craft in Shoselle, Mrs. Speaker. We know, again, we want to make it attractive for the young people so that they can get involved in, to bring it to a different level. Take it from where their parents had it and bring it to a different level, Mrs. Speaker. We saw what can happen with bananas. And it was very unfortunate, Mrs. Speaker, that some members of the opposition and the surrogates thought it was good. It was nice to make, to believe that they would try to create, make an image of me that I was somehow not correct when I spoke about bananas, Mrs. Speaker. They tried to ridicule me by speaking about bananas. Mrs. Speaker, if you see the amount of products that that exhibition showed that bananas can do, Mrs. Speaker, you will be surprised the amount of bananas. So, and that is what, but what do these people need? What do they need? Just some working capital. Probably a little bit of equipment, Mrs. Speaker, and they can convert these bananas. They can add value, Mrs. Speaker. You see, we must have confidence in ourselves and confidence in our young people. And we have to give them, create the environment for them, Mrs. Speaker. We have to facilitate them, Mrs. Speaker. We have to help them so that they can go forward. Some of them will make mistakes, Mrs. Speaker. Some of them will make mistakes. Multimillion-dollar businesses have started to fail. And we help them. We create an opportunity for them, Mrs. Speaker. What must happen is that when a young person makes a mistake, especially when it's a mistake made in business, Mrs. Speaker, we must not treat them as if they are outcast and as if they are failures. And that is the mistake we make all the time. A failure in business. Once you do have a backer and once you do have a name, when you fail in business, they ostracize you. We need to change that, Mrs. Speaker, because I'm sure there are many young people out there. And I don't even want to tell me that exists already. We have incentives, tourism's incentive act and microbees. And that's the argument that I'm going to hear. But no, it doesn't exist yet. This is specialist. This is special for the young people of this country. It's special for them, Mrs. Speaker. We don't want to get them. We know that there's microbusiness agonizing, which is good. But we want the young people to have their own space, their own space in the economic spare. They need to have their own space, Mrs. Speaker. So, Mrs. Speaker, there are different types of businesses. And the program will accept and organize all of them. This is why it says it co-ops the board to look for expertise in other areas, Mrs. Speaker. There are businesses that are less than a year old. They need a different kind of treatment. So businesses that exist already, Mrs. Speaker. Let's go into the business of designing, Mrs. Speaker. And we can create a unique solution design. We can create our own designers. What do they need? Probably a computer, probably a machine. Probably they can take it to another level, Mrs. Speaker. And that's what the youth economy aims at. That is what the youth agency will do, Mrs. Speaker. Get young people to have more confidence in themselves, in themselves, Mrs. Speaker. Both if you're not in business yet and if you want to get into business, Mrs. Speaker. So, Mrs. Speaker, there is a large area of e-commerce and digital technology. Every young person has some form or has some knowledge in the digital economy, Mrs. Speaker. But what happens? They can convert that into a business. We must create a new environment by making sure there's access to broadband services. But what do they need? They need a computer, et cetera. So there are many people, young people, who can stay at their home and plug in to places in America as far as India and work from their home if they have necessary equipment for the digital economy. And that is what we want to create. These are the kind of entrepreneurs that we want to create, Mrs. Speaker. So, Mrs. Speaker, the operating model for the youth agency, Mrs. Speaker, is we have to ensure that the capabilities of young people are taken into consideration. We have to make sure that there's proper structure and proper governance. Because you can't run any agency or any business if there's no structure and governance. And we have to instill that discipline in our young entrepreneurs very early that your profit is what you make after you've taken out your expenses. That structure, that discipline. And that is why there's going to be the education, the training and training is an important component because you may be a young person and you may have a business. And for the first year, you have the sales are going. But what do you do? You take it and you put it in consumption. No, you mustn't do that. And that is where that's the training that will come. And this is why there's going to be mentors to mentor these young people. Successful, honest businessmen. Stress the world honest. Successful, honest businessmen who have gone into business and have succeeded. We can use them as mentors for these young people. And I'm sure there are many people who will want to do admin. Music, Mr. Speaker, during the economic crisis, Jamaica survived on the music, on music, on exporting music, Mr. Speaker. Music again is an export industry. We have the denry segment. We can develop that musical talent, Mr. Speaker. What about all the cultural activity that we have? Have we really, and I know again tourism is work, have we really taken our creative industries? And that is where young people are. And really made it into a business venture, creating dollars from our creative industries. Have we really done that? Have we really given the entertainment that tourists need, Mr. Speaker? Just very quickly. The cruise ships come to St. Lucia and then they drive to Vufort, the Souffre, to look for the surface springs. Can we not, in a very succinct way, create probably an enactment of the Laos Festival and you package it in 20-minute segments and you present to tourists with a history of what that is all about, Mr. Speaker. These are the things that we want to inspire our young people to do, Mr. Speaker. And that is the purpose of the youth economy agency, to create that environment, to do it with young people only. And young people there are people who are less than 45 years old. That is the people that we call young people as far as that bill is concerned, Mr. Speaker.  And so we want to put them in their own space. Right now we are in the process of preparing the office, Mr. Speaker. And the office has to be young. It's got to be a young office. It's got to be an office where you are vibing there, vibing, agile and flexible. It is, right? Flexible and agile, Mr. Speaker.  I hear that. That's our grips. What I'm saying, this is the first time we're going to have a dedicated agency for the young people of Central Asia. First time, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, young people are very excited about it. And they're very excited about it, Mr. Speaker, because they yearn for something of that nature. They yearn to get into business. And he was asked ourselves, if we have all these established things working, all these things that we say we form, all these things we have, and then we have not got the benefits that we intend to get, why can't we change something? Why don't we do something new? Because we have all of them. We have all these things that we say we have, maps and maps and all these things that we say we have. But why haven't we got the returns? And this is, to our mind, a dedicated agency dealing with leadership, financial management, business strategy, operational efficiency, sales and marketing, and human resources, all designed and designated for young people only, working with young people, but being very transparent and accountable. I believe, Mr. Speaker, that we will see many young people converting their hobbies into entrepreneurship, Mr. Speaker, and their skills into business so they can create employment for themselves and develop, and I make no bones about it. We need to develop a new cadre of Indigenous business people. And this has not been insular, or what do you, any other, what do you want? It is to develop a local person, Mr. Speaker, we need to see people who live in the parts of Saint Lucia that you all think and not think. We need to see them have businesses. We need to see them from Bellevue and from Masha and from Bapatat and from Fulashow. We need to see them have businesses. We need to give them opportunity to create, to use their talents and their skills, Mr. Speaker, and I make no bones about it, Mr. Speaker, because all we do is that we just cast, to get people and put them in the corner because they have no name. Everybody has a name, Mr. Speaker. Everybody has a name. What you must do is you have to be given the opportunity to develop your name so that you can make a contribution to yourself and your society, Mr. Speaker. And that is what we hope. We hope, this is the first step. The initial financing, Mr. Speaker, is $10 million. That's the initial financing. But the Taiwanese for the upskilling program, they will work with us, Mr. Speaker. What we intend to do is all the youth programs, we intend to build it under one umbrella, Mr. Speaker. We intend to work with the Ministry of Agriculture, young people in agriculture, but bring them under one agency, the Ministry of Tourism, Mr. Speaker. We intend to work with them to create employment for young people in one economic space designed for the youth solutions. Mr. Speaker, I thank you. Honorable members, the question is that the Youth Economy Bill be read a second time. Member for Cass Street South East. Thank you very much. Mr. Speaker, I think today I must add my voice and say it's a glorious day. It is a very good day. For this piece of legislation, this bill, and the idea that we're going to be creating space for young people. Mr. Speaker, as I listen to our Prime Minister, give the details of what this is about. I am sure members on the opposite side will want to debate the details. But I would say to them, Mr. Speaker, and I would say to everyone who is listening, that is the idea, the idea that our young people need to have an economic space is novel. This is first time and this is a tremendous, tremendous opportunity for young people. And I'll say why, Mr. Speaker, because I want to make use of the Survey of Living Condition and the Household Budget Survey of 2016. Yes. And of course, in 2016, the Survey of Living Condition highlighted that our labour force had been 144,000, of which only 78% were participating. Therefore, you had unemployment in about 21%. And when you pay attention, and of course, Mr. Speaker, let me explain this, the Household Budget Survey. Between November of 2015 to July 2016, the consultants remain with 1,443 homes monitoring their expenditure during those months, what they were consuming, how they were living to establish this very important property report. And when you see the number of persons participating in the job market, in the labour force, we recognize the high unemployment rate before youth or young people. And every year, as persons leave school, that number continues to grow. So our youth unemployment is high. One may ask the question, I like the Prime Minister said, but we have concessions here. We have support over there. But there comes a time in your intervention where you need to focus, where you need to be deliberate, where you need to be purposeful. And of course, in this intervention, it's not just an economic intervention, but there is a safety net, because when it comes for participating in the business of St. Lucia, when it comes for who participating, business or who have access to services of government, Mr. Speaker, there's always a fortunate few. There's always some individuals who are more able to access. And when an initiative like this youth economy comes on board, I am sure over the years it will evolve and you will have more about it. But there's something special about the Labour Party government because all of these agencies that are responsible, that is providing safety nets to our people, all of the agencies that is responding to a vulnerable population was established by the Labour Party administration. You talk about the National Conservation Authority. You talk about the St. Lucia Social Development Fund. You talk about the James Belgrave Fund that's doing microenterprise. We are in the business of always recognizing our vulnerable population and attempt to address issues specific to a special group. And this is vital, Mr. Speaker, because we may ask where else in the region has someone given consideration that there should be a youth economy? One may ask, isn't there a general economic activity of everybody participating? Of course, yes, that exists. But why do we have a high rate of unemployment among our youth? And shouldn't that be a concern when we have to come in and pass a firearms bill to increase and deter young people from violent crime? Shouldn't it be appropriate also to consider how you address the issue of our youth in the economy? And this is what I think person should pay attention to. And I commend the prime minister for having the vision. And even if it's not accurate and it is not perfect in its presentation, the board of directors who will lead this organization will have it to evolve and respond to what young people want. And this is what I believe in. Because we are able. We have done it before and we'll do it again. So I commend it. And let me say this, Mr. Speaker, in the survey of living conditions, if you look at the issue in terms of unemployment and educational attainment, you'll notice that even while persons have increased in education, especially among the women, you still find high unemployment. So the gender sensitivity is an issue as well. So you have now persons with degrees unemployed. The prime minister is saying that the youth economy will target these individuals. Mr. Speaker, I sit in a parliamentary office like most of my colleagues. And most of you would agree with me that most persons come to the office, sometimes come in to look for a handout they would need to, they need some support. They cannot have to address the immediate need. When you have a youth economy, it will now start to cause young people to start to think. Because on the menu of service, it's not just that we have educational assistance. It's not just that we are providing support to the senior persons, but now we have on the menu a youth economy and we're engaging young people to come forward with your thoughts. Start to think because there's business opportunity. And of course, when you look at the issue of the structure of our economy, a few businesses continue to dominate us as a country. Look, go through the land registry and find out who owns the city of castries. How many local solutions own properties and business in the city of castries? Go up grossly, find out who own businesses in that part of the island. How many locals own? We're not. And if we maintain the status quo and the business as is, we will be selling ourselves and our future. And we as solutions will disappear as significant persons in the participation of the economy of Sanctucia. The youth economy is an important seed for transformation of the economy. It ties in with the SDGs because one of the commitment made on one of the six pillars is to support our SMS, SMS is our small micro businesses. This is one of the strategies. Right in our SDGs, the prime minister is on point. The labor government again is delivering in a fundamental way to shape the minds of young people to tell them that they need to participate in the economic business of this country. And of course it will do well for the future of this country. So I ask members of your position, spend not to think of the details because the able men of Sanctucia, men and women of Sanctucia will sit to govern. This agency will continue to lead it to wait or to go and bring it into good, safe, comprehensive and productive harbors. But give your support to this initiative because it will do well for our children and your children. I thank you. The member for Susan is all to us. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker. My good friend, my good friend. It should be the intention of every government. It should be, I agree with you. It should be intention of every government, Mr. Speaker, to assist and empower the people of the country, especially young people, okay? And Mr. Speaker, based on the intention of this act, it's a no-brainer that it should be supported across the board. Don't boo me for my next statement. However, Mr. Speaker, I listen closely to the Honourable Prime Minister in his opening remarks when he was reading from his address, the budget address. And he said, my government will not duplicate anything that's working. Pretty much that's what he said. And that is the fundamental problem I have with why we establish a youth economy agency. That is the fundamental problem I have, Mr. Speaker. Because, Mr. Speaker, I believe we have several agencies already in place delivering a range of similar programs. We have the Small Business Development Centre. We have the Ministry of Commerce. We have Bell Fund. We have SLDB, the Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Speaker, there's the Youth Business Trust Entrepreneurship Program. All of these entities, Mr. Speaker, are already in operation. They have an operational structure, Mr. Speaker. They have history. They have experience. They have the expertise in providing the service. They also, Mr. Speaker, have a need for additional resources to expand and enhance the current offerings, Mr. Speaker. So the question is, has any attempt been made, Mr. Speaker, to assess these agencies and the associated programs that they currently have? Have we identified the major gaps that currently exist? Have we identified ways, Mr. Speaker, to address these gaps? Has there been any attempt made to enhance the existing agencies involved in the delivery of sustainable business support services? And what sets this new agency apart from what already exists, Mr. Speaker? The question is, is the government saying that there are no agencies in place currently that support youth participation in the economy? Okay. So, Mr. Speaker, one of the things, Mr. Speaker, that I have a critical problem with, Mr. Speaker, is, again, as I said, government is continuing. And you know, it would have been nice for the Honorable Prime Minister to indicate that he appreciated the foundation that was set for this program that he's currently implementing. And why I say that, Mr. Speaker? Why I say that, Mr. Speaker? Because you would remember, and Madam Minister of Commerce would know that because she's coming in right after me, that when we adjusted the physical incentive act, Mr. Speaker, there were a number of things that were put in place for the services sector. And the services sector is a lot of what our young people are currently engaging. Before what we had, we had most of the incentives go into the tourism sector, the agricultural sector, and the manufacturing sector. What did we do, Mr. Speaker? We amended the fiscal incentive act to capture five new sectors. The professional sector, and we listed the agencies under the various professions. The creative sector, which a lot of emphasis is currently being spoken about based on this youth economy. The IT sector, Mr. Speaker, SPA and wellness sector, all of these sectors have already under the amendment to the fiscal incentive act now, will be able, Mr. Speaker, to get income tax holidays. Prime Minister spoke a bit about it. Service charge exemptions, import duty exemptions, excise tax exemptions, VAT and tax credit, Mr. Speaker. So this is something, Mr. Speaker, you could well imagine that the youth economy that's been proposed will be able to pick it back on significantly, Mr. Speaker. So no, I am saying that it exists, it exists. And my good friend, you know, we always address each other like that, Mr. Speaker. I remember very early when you came family, very early when you came in. Is that an 18th member of the house, your good friend? Well, you know he has truth and connection. Mr. Speaker, when he came in office, I remember, can't remember the occasion, but he was speaking about the things, the programs that he found at Invest and Lucia, that he was very impressed with. And in his words, he felt that he needed some trick in to, you know, to work with, I guess, his own thinking. And one of the programs you found there, my good friend, was the Boost program. And you know, Invest and Lucia spent $200,000 to which the young people were the ones who created that program more or less. And surprisingly, I'm not hearing anything, how it fits into this new youth economy. And I really wish, and I'm sure the member knows, you know, the value of that program. And it's something that should be highlighted. I remember from Cassie South, is indicated, you know, we should not go into the details, but I think it's important that we recognize some of the things and the talents that already existed and how we can, you know, bring it into this program. Sadly, Mr. Speaker, there's something that continues to bother me. And you know, on the political lines, Mr. Speaker, it always seemed to be getting a very bad rap, Mr. Speaker. And as the whole issue of the Ojo Labs and the Itelbo, Mr. Speaker, which is playing an important role in the south of the island, the number of people that have been employed, Mr. Speaker. And you know, I think we need to forget about some of the criticism that have been laid and look at, you know, the number of jobs that have been created and the young people that have been empowered, Mr. Speaker. And I'm sure the Honorable Member for Viewfort South and also Viewfort North Library, all of them have our people, you know, gainfully employed. And one of the things we need to do is to preserve jobs. So it is a very sad day for me. And I would like to mention that that when they were opening their third unit, you know, I did not see any member from the government side. And I thought I was, you know, very unfortunate. I think it was something that, you know, they should show support to the young people. You know, you were invited. There's a member who was in the gallery who's not here right now. But they were invited. Well, there was an apology on behalf of the Prime Minister, for sure. There was an apology. Okay. So, my, the Prime Minister spoke that 20%, I think you mentioned 20%, should not be spent in administrative expense. But Mr. Prime Minister, you would remember in the budget, there was the line that showed under the $10 million, almost $5 million would be going into operational expense. We saw that and we spoke about that. Okay, well, so you clarify that now, but because it's a major concern that $5 million, you know, would have to go into such a way where that can be used to assist young people. So Mr. Speaker, I just want to go through some parts of the act that I think we should, in this environment currently, I think we see a lot of this scrutiny that our lending agencies come under and all of what they have to live up to based on international standards and everything that. And I think to create another lending agency because in part, the agency is going to be a sort of a lending agency as well. You know, the amount of bureaucracy and administrative, you know, components to it. I think, you know, going to that component of it, you know, is something that we should look very closely at. You know, we have the SLDB, we have the bell fund, as I said, doing that. Mr. Speaker, I also note under clause 57, monitoring of compliance. And that's where I come to the whole issue of duplication again. 57, 1, and 57, 2. The ministry shall monitor compliance by a young person. Exchange. That's one of them. You've changed it about five times in one week. So we got in the public officer from the ministry, it's also, it's not there as well? Okay, so everything will be done in-house. Okay, you know, that's what happens when you get these things late. You know, I just threw you brought to my attention, but all my notes are on that one. Yeah, yeah. So Mr. Speaker, the prime minister seemed to have clarified the issue that I had with regards to the 50% I'm going into admin. But as I indicated, Mr. Speaker, earlier, I think the intention of the act is a good one. My concern has been whether there's some resources that are not wasteful, Mr. Speaker. The other issue I have, Mr. Speaker, just in closing, is how do we reach out to people in the out districts like my community? Shozal, saltibus, Mr. Speaker. Where I have a young people, how I have a young man only yesterday who, who, um... Member first was very seldom do I set rules there. But in this chamber, there is no out district. Every one of the 17 members are equal. Thank you. Thank you for that, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate your remaining on that, yeah. Thank you. So a young man yesterday came to me and he has, he has a wonderful, um, pizza dough that he, that he, that he, um, and masses prepared to purchase. But what are you telling him? You need to have a separate outhouse or building to, to do that. You cannot do it. You know, when he goes up and he says, but he from Shozal, will he be marginalized? You know, these are the questions that, you know, I, I, I want to ensure that this thing is going to take into consideration young people, regardless of where they come from. And even if they're recommended by the minister of Shozal, you know, that it will not be seen as, you know, we have to stop this divide that we have. And, and, and appreciate it.  Take it easy, yes? A fellow lion. He's talking about the lion. The lion, the lion. So, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker. So, these were my concerns, Mr. Speaker. But as I said, I support the intention and I'm hoping that some of the concerns that I raised would be addressed. Thank you very much. The member for Miko Nogh. Oh, Mr. Speaker, see me. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I did not come into this house with any intention on speaking on this bill. But earlier, I mentioned that. I mentioned the wood young, Mr. Speaker, and the member for Denry North found it necessary at the time to, you see, I did not leave he jet or shed. So, Mr. Speaker, I felt compelled being the youngest parliamentarian in this honorable house to stand and offer my support to this youth economy bill. And, Mr. Speaker, I listened to the Prime Minister in his presentation, the member for Castries East. And I really reflected on my own life and on my own self, growing up as a young man. And I sat there in the chair and I imagined the possibilities that I could have benefited from if, during my time, 10 years ago or 12 years ago, there was a youth economy that was built. And I know that the member for Choselle said that there are other agencies who do similar or who provide similar support. But to have a youth economy, Mr. Speaker, just by the very name, Mr. Speaker, I think that it encourages young people to know that you have some way that you can call yours. It is youth-specific, it is youth-driven, and I think the Prime Minister said that even the configuration of the office will be one whereby we have young people who understand the plight of other young people doing representation on their behalf and assisting and doing the works, at the office. And, Mr. Speaker, I remember during the election campaign, quite a few people looked up to me, quite a few young people came and they asked me questions. What is your government going to do? If you all win the election, what are you all going to do about young people? And at the time, Mr. Speaker, I did not have a comprehensive understanding of what the youth economy was. But just by the name, the very name, Mr. Speaker, I was in a position to be able to sell that to young people. And having seen the bill, Mr. Speaker, now I'm even more excited. I'm even in a better position to tell people, like, oh, shoot, Mr. Speaker, that there is a real opportunity for her. Not everyone, Mr. Speaker. I remember when I left school, not everyone of us will have the same opportunities. Not all of us here have the backer. And I think one of the things that is even more exciting about the bill is that the persons behind the bill or the other parliamentarians like ourselves, they understand what it is not to have backer. They understand what it is to grow up and not to have somebody behind you with a name or power not to carry a certain city, Mr. Speaker. And for it to be denied an opportunity because you don't have the necessary backing. That is a problem that is going to be eliminated by this bill, Mr. Speaker. Now, Mr. Speaker, as I said, I remember when I left school in 2007, 2009, Mr. Speaker. So long ago. Yes, Mr. Speaker. When I left school in 2009, I remember coming from fresh out of Saafa and because my mother was not... or she did not have a prominent surname, I grew up more or less without the support of a father or father figure in my life. Mr. Speaker, I found it very difficult. Very, very, very difficult. And to the earlier, I made a presentation on the firearms bill and some of the things that can lead to young people going astray. And Mr. Speaker, when I think of myself, I could have gone astray at any given time during the time that I left school and during the time that I became a police officer. Because there were times when I was hopeless because I felt like I did well at school and persons who did not perform as well as I did. I saw them working in the banks and working in various places, Mr. Speaker. And not because of merit and we can... I think all of us can attest to the fact that some of us find ourselves in positions, not because of merit, but because of, as the prime minister, use the word, who we have behind us or who we know. Now, Mr. Speaker, I found... I remember there were several things that I wanted to do. I had all the bright ideas in my mind at that time. However, there was not really an avenue where I could have gone or there was an agency that I could have gone to at the time that would have given me an opportunity or would have given me seed capital. And seed capital is very, very important for a young person just coming out of school. You have not worked anywhere, Mr. Speaker. You don't have any money saved in the bank, especially, as I said, those of us without the backup, you have not worked anywhere and you don't have any money to go. And you may have all the bright ideas and without the seed capital, there's very little to nothing that you can do as it relates to exploring or developing whatever potential that you may have. The hobbies, the skills. Mr. Speaker, I support this bill. I'm very happy that today we are passing this bill in this honorable house. And I say that because I have right here in my community and my constituency, I want to encourage persons like Peter Nwell, who have gone into the business of agro-processing, and now they produce banana flour, cassava flour, just name it, breadfruit flour, seamos powder, seamos capsules. And they've been struggling, Mr. Speaker, because of how expensive it is to be able to buy equipment, to be able to buy fittings for just an office. And this, with this bill, Mr. Speaker, with the passing of this bill, Peter Nwell now have Taisha and a partner now have an opportunity to be able to bring the equipment that they require for the agro-processing, to be able to bring it here and not worry about heavy custom duties. Now they have an opportunity to bring this things here duty-free. And that is what progressive thinking is about. I mean, we have to be realistic. We have a situation where not everyone now, Mr. Speaker, or those people who we term, quote-unquote, academically inclined, are not, we have a situation or trend where not all these people are now interested in becoming doctors and lawyers, Mr. Speaker. Some of them are interested in becoming entrepreneurs. We have a General Bix, Mr. Speaker, and those of you who remember the song, Both Hellily, Both Hello, Mr. Speaker, that's from the General Bix in my code. And Mr. Speaker, can you imagine how far General Bix could have been? We've just a little push with something from the youth economy, Mr. Speaker. We have Mahon James Morgley, who produces, Mr. Speaker, in the community of Meekwood. Right there, he produces. He has his own little studio inside his house. And several young men and women keep going to the studio and they keep recording there. And Mr. Speaker, I say, imagine this man has done so much on his own. He's a teacher and he has done so much on his own. With a little incentive, you can think of the limitless opportunities that he can give not just to himself as a young businessman, but to other birding entrepreneurs, to birding artists in the community. Now they have an avenue where they can go, they can record. And we can ensure that he has the proper equipment to provide proper music and to give other young people in the constituency of Meekwood an opportunity. So when I think of this thing, Mr. Speaker, I'm left with no choice but to support this youth economy bill. I have to support this youth economy bill. When I think of my own trials, my own struggles, Mr. Speaker, and I thank God for preserving me and ensuring that I stayed along the right path. But not all of us are so lucky. And Mr. Speaker, I see this youth economy bill working alongside the firearms, the amendments to the firearms bill, where it's going to give us an opportunity. This morning we said that we need a holistic approach. It's no longer just about implementing legislation to make laws stiffer for our people, but giving them an opportunity where they can go and they can explore. We have an opportunity where they can go there and they get the exposure that they need to display their skills, their hobbies and to give them at a very young age. And I'm very happy with the training component involved there. Even things like upskilling, Mr. Speaker, I want to support initiatives like the upskill initiative with the Taiwanese. And I think that these things, especially given the time that you're operating in, Mr. Speaker, I think I want to applaud the Prime Minister and the government for seeing the need to bring this bill before the House. And as much as the member for Schoesel said that there are other agencies which provide similar services, Mr. Speaker, I think having a bill or having an agency that deals specifically with the young people, Mr. Speaker, that alone will attract our young people. I think that alone will allow our young people to see that the government is really interested, that we're not just talking the talk, but we're walking the walk. And that is why we made that manifesto promise. And I'm happy that today, on our first anniversary, Mr. Speaker, that we're able to pass this bill and to give the young people in Saint Lucia a real opportunity. And some may say, but what is $5,000? Mr. Speaker, I can tell you, $5,000 is a lot of money when you don't have money. $2,000 is a lot of money when you don't have money. $2,000 can save a man's life. A young man who may be going astray, may be talented in barbering.  And I refuse, Mr. Speaker, not every bill will have his deficiencies, and I accept that. But I refuse, if a bill is so important, if a bill that proposes to do so much for the young people in Saint Lucia, I don't think, Mr. Speaker, that we should look at deficiencies in the bill today. I think today, the general sentiment in this room should be one of support. One way we understand that our young people, all of us know all too well, Mr. Speaker, that we have a problem, even under the last administration, with you for unemployment. We understand that. We have a problem with you for unemployment. There is no way that the public service can absorb the young people outside. There is no way. There is no way that we can take more teachers and more doctors. I think we've reached our quota. And when you look at the amount of people retiring, vis-à-vis the amount of children living in school, Mr. Speaker, we would always have a problem of you for unemployment. But this gives us an opportunity to change things. This creates the paradigm shift that we're looking for, where young people now get opportunity to go there and create their own employment. And, Mr. Speaker, even for community tourism, I can see this bill meshing so well with community tourism, and I know that very soon I will be seeing aspects of community tourism coming to Mikut Nof. And having said that, Mr. Speaker, I look forward to the young people in Mikut Nof who are involved in the arts and crafts, those who want to learn how to do chapeau pie, as they call them, the straw hats. Mr. Speaker, the youth economy gives these people an opportunity. And I know the Prime Minister made mention of a young man who wanted to go to France and he had an opportunity to go to France and all he needed at the time was a ticket. And through the youth economy, he has an opportunity, Mr. Speaker, to go there and get his ticket and it provides him with the type of employment. He goes to France or wherever he works or he plays football, he becomes professional. Even if he does not become professional, Mr. Speaker, his family is going to be benefiting from remittances. And you can see, Mr. Speaker, the amount of opportunities that can come from this piece of legislation that we're going to pass in this house today. And when the Prime Minister spoke about that, Mr. Speaker, I can tell you about I have at least 20 during my tenure, my one year, Mr. Speaker, in excess of 20 of my constituents who have left St. Lucia and who have gone to the British Army to work, because they find it very difficult to get work in St. Lucia, especially given the COVID times. And we've had to provide support to the people and we are the other. Mr. Speaker, I'm happy that I now have somewhere to direct these young people to go. I can send them to the youth agency, Mr. Speaker, who is going to provide support for them in that regard. That is one less headache for me as a parliamentarian, for Mikul Noff. So, Mr. Speaker, I cannot find the real words to express how excited I am about this bill and about what this bill is going to do for the young people of St. Lucia. So, in closing, I just want to thank the Prime Minister and my other parliamentarian colleagues for supporting this bill, Mr. Speaker, and I want to encourage the young people, especially those young people between the Tumasi Bridge and the Prale Bridge, Mr. Speaker, I want to send a very special message to them so that they can make optimum use of this opportunity that has been afforded to them through this youth economy bill. So, I thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the Prime Minister for bringing this bill to the House. Member for Grosely? Not Grosely, Souffre, sorry. I accept, Mr. Speaker. This is a member for Souffre, for Hezhak, as well as a member for Grosely. I accept. I still represent. I still represent. Oh, that's that. Did you admit you're Mr. Speaker? It was not sure, you know, okay. Ennaire is always Enneire, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I'm sat here today. Y'all don't look at the centre of the church and it's super... Today is not the day. Today, today is not the day, Mr. Speaker. I ask Mr. Speaker to add my voice, albeit briefly, to the debate on this very important bill before us, Mr. Speaker. And that is a youth economy bill, Mr. Speaker. And I'm glad that I'm doing this today. On the 26th of July, the anniversary of our first year, in office. Mr. Speaker, before I make this brief intervention, if you have permission, I want to take this moment, again, to thank the people of Sufra for Shajak, for their support and for their support to the Sanctu Shaliba Party. It's six o'clock, very important time, Mr. Speaker. So I will not call names, but there are hundreds of persons, what I call my soldiers, who played active role in that battle, Mr. Speaker. The battle on the Sufra or the front. They played different roles. They came with different passion. And they came with different commitments. But all played critical roles in that victory, Mr. Speaker. And when I remember that day, Mr. Speaker, I could remember different people, our young men, caring persons to vote. But what has remained etched in my memory is the long lines at the Sanctu Shaliba Hall, Mr. Speaker. When my people from Barron's Drive decided that they would stomach the sun from morning till night. And we say we're not leaving that line until we vote. And they stayed, Mr. Speaker. They stayed.  I remember, Mr. Speaker, that I knock on every door. I went into the yellow houses and the red houses. And the houses were open. And the yellows delivered to the reds, Mr. Speaker. So today, Mr. Speaker, today, yes, the yellows delivered to the reds. And we came together and we made a significant change and brought this seat home, Mr. Speaker. So I want to thank my boys by the river on the block to say that that victory is yours. I remain committed, Mr. Speaker, to continue that fight for the people of Sufra, Foshen Shack. I want to take this moment, Mr. Speaker, as well, to thank, in a very special way, the staff at the Minister of Commerce, especially the staff at the government warehouse, because at the moment they are under intense pressure, Mr. Speaker, for everybody looking for rice, flour, and sugar. And I know that every day they are under the microscope. So I want to thank all my permanent secretary and all my allied agencies for their support. So, Mr. Speaker, back to the bill before us. As we speak, Mr. Speaker, we all know of the turmoil in this world, spiral high prices, high inflation, threats of war, and war. We have the threats of recession, Mr. Speaker. And as we look around, the negative impact on us as a people. We have that. We have a coronavirus that before had left us and is back with us. But we have learned to live with it. Mr. Speaker, earlier on this morning, we heard the member for Viewfort North spoke about the threats of monkeypox. All of this. And as a government, we are operating within these external threats with very limited and no resources. I have reported in the past of the significant support that this government is providing, the difficult sacrifices that we are making at this time, Mr. Speaker. Our situation at home is affected by all these external shocks. And, Mr. Speaker, on page 10 of the manifesto of the Central Labor Party, our political leader and our team made some bold promises to the youth of this country. And if you are permission, I will read it, Mr. Speaker, that we will provide fiscal incentives to young entrepreneurs that are specifically targeted and readily accessible. To provide financing to eligible young persons to operate their business ideas in the form of grants and low interest loans. To provide marketing support for these budding entrepreneurs to market their products and services locally, regionally, and internationally. To encourage programs that support skills training, mentorship, and the development of the emotional intelligence. To assist them in becoming successful young entrepreneurs. To establish a separate ministry. And today, Mr. Speaker, we are establishing it as a special agency, Mr. Speaker. I am reading this, Mr. Speaker, so that all those with ears will hear, Mr. Speaker, that it was a promise made by our political leader and the team of the Central Labor Party. And today, it is becoming a reality, Mr. Speaker. We've made a promise to address a critical problem. And the speakers before me have mentioned it. And that problem is high unemployment among our youth. That is the challenge that we have to face. And the issue is how do we address it? As we walk around before elections now, when we engage our young people, they have a mind of their own. They stick to their own. And that is why I think this initiative, in terms of having a special agency focusing on them, is going to tell them that, look, we have taken you seriously. We have engaged you. We have heard you. And now we are making a special effort to address your needs in a special way, Mr. Speaker. I've heard the comments from the members of SWISL that you have various agencies. Even the Ministry of Commerce, yes, we do. But we have sat down. We have strategised. And we've said, let all the young people go with the young people. We are going to address persons at 35 and above. We are going to give them the support when we have to. The handholding. But let that agency focus on the young people. They will go there with people of their own. They will sit. And I think one of the things that must follow this, Mr. Speaker, is to have, as we have a Chamber of Commerce, to have a youth Chamber of Commerce, let them sit and get themselves together in their own space, Mr. Speaker. Let them speak their own language. And let them understand that they have a significant place and role to play in our economy. So, Mr. Speaker, they played an important role. When we made this promise, the young people came out in large numbers to vote for the Central Asia Labour Party. And today, the Central Asia Labour Party is saying, we heard you. We are not bluffers.  And today, we are delivering on this. We are delivering on this. So I want to echo the sentiments of the member from Miku North to urge our young people to get up. And I continue doing so in my own office, Mr. Speaker. And anyway, I meet them. We are placing the environment there for you. Now it is your moment to get up and seize that opportunity. Mr. Speaker, I believe when you look at the programs that we've had, one of the issues that I know within this program that is critical, two issues. The availability of the financing and the mentoring, Mr. Speaker, and the mentoring. Because when I reflect on my own experience, when I sat in my father's shop and sold my coffee, that's what I made my money. That's what I paid my school from coffee, clutching coffee. If I had somebody who could have mentored me at that time to tell me, look, put a proper label on this and a proper package and sell it as a solution coffee, maybe I would have been a billionaire by now. So that's what I'm saying. I think it is taking the opportunity. And when the young people and persons come to my office, that is what I always do. Provide the mentoring that is missing. Most times it is missing. To guide. To guide. I've taken all my efforts and I decided to share. But you could. But I'm saying the whole issue of mentoring, guiding and saying, look, this money you are making there, it is not all for you to go and spend. It is, that's not the cash flow. The gross profit is not your net profit. That you have to put something aside. This is what I think is critical for us. And I believe that persons as they come to my office, young persons like L.A. Elyse, whose business of not-bite cafe and Mindel James can decay in beauty and Felicia Hippolys here and beyond. And Johan C. Casabon, kayak adventure. All of these young people are ready. They are ready before us, Mr. Prime Minister. They are ready for the farms. So now, when they come in, we have to give them a start-up from my own farms.  When they are ready, we need to deliver. So I am pleased. I am very pleased that we are at this stage. I am eagerly, the young people are eagerly awaiting the passage of this bill. And not only the passage, but the full implementation of the program with the funding. I'm excited about this. And I can, I'm looking forward in the next 10 years when we start having our local young millionaires. This is the seat, Mr. Speaker. And I support this bill wholeheartedly, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. How are you? That's the seat. Nice. That's the seat. The member for view for North. I think we should. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Castries East and Prime Minister for bringing this youth economy bill to the parliament. When I campaign, Mr. Speaker, I promise the young people of V4 North new economic opportunities. Many of them, Mr. Speaker, I know, I mean, I know them very well. And many of them are well-known, not only in the communities around V4 North, but in St. Lucia for their creativity and for their prowess, whether it be in music, theater, culture, food, and so on. So when I campaign, Mr. Speaker, I promise the young people that the St. Lucia Labour Party government would provide new opportunities for them. And I stand to support this bill also because many young people, Mr. Speaker, were part of my campaign. And many young people assisted me as parliamentary represent as the candidate to bring the seat home to the St. Lucia Labour Party. I take very briefly, Mr. Speaker, to recognize some of them who are in the house today. And I wish, Mr. Speaker, at this time to really thank and pay homage to the president of the St. Lucia Labour Party youth organization, Mr. Mianpopee and Mr. Speaker, along with a number of the youth officers of our Labour Party youth organization who are here with us to witness the debate on this youth economy bill. They were very instrumental, Mr. Speaker, in the campaign. And I know that the young people in my constituency and indeed all around St. Lucia are looking forward to the enactment of this bill, this promise. But, Mr. Speaker, before I speak a little on how I think this bill would impact my constituency, I want to just address this issue of this issue which keeps coming up. The members' opposite indicated that the programs are all around. Why you have programs in Bell Fund, you have programs in Ministry of Commerce, and why are you now creating a new youth economy agency? It's very clear to me, Mr. Speaker, that members' opposite have not understood what drives economic growth and what drives economies all around the world. Mr. Speaker, there's a reason for the stock market going up and down. There's a reason for speculation. There's a reason for all of these things. And there's a big debate, as you know, Mr. Speaker, between economists and behavioral scientists as to what really drives economies. People like the Prime Minister and the member for Ansleray, whom I'm sure, Mr. Speaker, on the side of the pure economists, will say to you that it's supply and demand and all of these things. People like myself, Mr. Speaker, I am more on the behavioral side. And I say to you that what really drives economies is behavior and feelings, how people feel. So, in the next, there's a war in Ukraine, and they feel that gas prices will continue to rise, so they change their behavior. They spend less money, and that changes all the dynamics, Mr. Speaker. In Brazil, they are cutting down the forests, and the environmentalists are mobilizing all around the world. If they succeed, people change their behavior. Look at what has happened to welling. And in Japan right now, the whole economics around welling has changed because of people's behavior and people's attitude. Now, let's come back to St. Lucia. So, Mr. Speaker, why do we need a separate agency for the youth economy? It's because, Mr. Speaker, young people, as we know, they're energetic, they're thinking out of the box, they don't think like us, they look at situations differently, and especially in times of crisis, COVID crisis, fuel prices increasing, many young people are sitting at their homes in little corners on their phones and creating businesses that we don't know about. These people are creating solutions to the problems, and therefore, you know what? If you bring all of these people on the one umbrella, the synergies begin to happen. It's almost like Silicon Valley. Why are so many of these experts from India and from all around the world they gravitate to Silicon Valley? Why do you think because, you think it's because there are mountains, there are mountains everywhere, and there are rivers and things, but they gravitate there for synergy and for the lightness of minds. Look, Mr. Speaker, look at Hollywood. Why do you have in the United States of America all the actors, most of them, the directors and the playwrights and so on, they gravitate to Hollywood? Why? You think they can't stay in Miami or wherever and do what they do? But most of them, most of the great ones, they gravitate because of behavior, because of synergy, because of the synergy of their work. They can find contact easily. So in the youth economy agency, when young people come together, it's been run by young people, managed by young people. There are synergies that are developing, Mr. Speaker. So that is why, that is why we need a separate agency for the youth economy. And Mr. Speaker, it has happened before. I remember in 1997, when the Labour Party government came to office and the member for the Universal Rights Prime Minister, we had people like the former member of parliament, Minister Rambali and Damian Greaves and them, and there was always talk about, you had FRC, you had cultural activities all over the place. They created a new agency, the CDF, and they brought minds together. So you have synergy. And the synergy has a way of multiplying simple things into great ideas. So what will happen with this youth economy, Mr. Speaker? What will happen is this, young people, even though they are not part of the management of this agency, or they are not part of it, there's a vibe that will flow in the country that there is an economic engine that belong to us. There's a vibe. So it's not only about structure and about organization, and which office is doing this, and which Bell Fund doing that. There's something about synergy and vibe in a country that propels economic growth. The creative, look at what happened to carnival. Look at what happened to carnival. And everybody is saying, boy, the thing was well organized, and the shows were thing and so on. You know what has happened, Mr. Speaker? There's a vibe, I don't know about this one. There's a vibe which has been created. And so that is what I think the separate agency, the separate agency will do. So Mr. Speaker, young people will gravitate to this, and not just to an office, but to an idea, to an ideal that, boy, this government has put something there for me. And just that, this government has something, the hope that is in that, this government has something for me as a young person. Doesn't matter where I come from, I can get $5,000 to start a little breading thing, and I can have a chair. And if I need plywood to put in my mother's house, so I can start breading. You know how many applications we have in the VFOT North office already, Mr. Speaker? For people who are breading, and they can only bread in the mother's living room. And they have a lot of clients in Bell VPRO. I know so many of these young people. They are breading, they are doing wonderful work, but they are doing it in the balcony, or in the mother's living room. You know what? They cannot afford immediately the sink. Or, so all they need, the parents have given them permission. They want to put a little piece on the house. They can paint it nicely, put a sign and have the sink and everything. One time this becomes a business. And you know what, Mr. Speaker? They now employ somebody, maybe part-time every weekend in the first instance, and when they grow their business, they now employ one person, and then it grows, and then slowly, in my constituency, if you have 50 of these people, then you develop 100 jobs. That is what we are going to do with the youth economy, Mr. Speaker. That is what we are going to do. Because I, Mr. Speaker, some of the people have said, we have developed a special program for the young people here. In fact, we are in the opposite position. Or, a two-program program for the young people here. Because they are not able to do a different program. I don't know what you are going to say, Mr. Speaker. The young people here, like Mr. Pepe, with all these young people from all over the country, the young people here, who are working with the other parties, the young people who are not doing anything, and who are not doing anything, they are doing different things. And what we are going to do is, the young people vote for us, with the young people who are now in government, with the young people who want to join in an opportunity to make an economy. With all the past, all the future, the young people who want to make money for the young people, $5,000, or $2,000, to open a shop. So, look, Mr. Speaker, the young people here, who are working with the other parties, they are working with the other parties, to join the results. So, Mr. Speaker, when I campaign, Mr. Speaker, from Pierrot, Savans, there are people like Kevin Paul into our processing. Son from Pierrot, Alicia Mathre, who does sushi, Mr. Speaker, you can come down for some. Jilani Moffat, Jilani Moffat, Mr. Speaker, many times, he's the one who trims my hair. The Seamos farmers, the Seamos processors, Mr. Speaker, many people in this room go to Fraser, at Opiko, in Vie for North. Fraser for Raps. And you only tell it a driver. Tourism and water-related recreation activities, the tour guides, at Belleville, Opiko, and Pierrot, Mr. Speaker. And what about young people in performances? We have spoken with the principal of the Pierrot Combined School, and very soon, Mr. Speaker, this wonderful yard at the Pierrot Combined School. We intend to turn it into an open air performance area, and the Minister for Tourism is very interested. He always troubles me about that, about performance areas in Vie for North. But we will certainly speak to the Catholic Church and the Minister for Education to ensure that this happens. Mr. Speaker, I want to indicate, at grace, people like Nadia Chalry, who's a great cook, Janik Aso, Ginella Chalry, who does give baskets, Ned Mitchell with his cow wash, Kenya at Vevercell, Vanessa Aldoza, and you have heard them before, the Vietwisin Boys, and Zilon with Camp Venture. We have a wonderful camping activity in Belleville, Mr. Speaker. You must spend a weekend down there. Keith O'Brien, and Tonya, and so on. The artists, and so forth. Mr. Speaker, there are so many young people who are just waiting for this opportunity. Abhije, the young people who are into cassava making, and so many of them. At grace, Mr. Speaker. The farmers, and in sports, we have some of the best football clubs in St. Lucia. We have only been beaten by Vuefort South a few times. But we are coming for them, Mr. Speaker. We are coming for them, Mr. Speaker. So, Mr. Speaker, there are so many opportunities. Just over the weekend, Mr. Speaker, I was pleased to be in the constituency of Microsoft. And, you know, they had a wonderful football competition there, Mr. Speaker. And our teams from Vuefort North did very well. The Young Roots Football Club from Grace won the competition. And the Veterans Football Club, the Vuefort North Veterans Football Club. Play second, the finals are between Vuefort North and Vuefort North. You're mislead in the house. I'm mislead in the house, Mr. Speaker. A wonderful activity. So, we have endless opportunity, Mr. Speaker. And I want to tell the young people, all those who have applied from Vuefort North, we have a pile as thick like the Minister for Finance is not there. But we want to ensure, Mr. Speaker, that we get our fair share and that our people are ready to embrace this. And let us change the thinking. You see the thinking. So, because it's already in commerce, it's already there, it's already there. You know, do the same thing over and over again. But we have 30-something percent youth unemployment. But we've been doing that for years and years. And we see that 30-something percent youth unemployment. We have to do something different. We have to cut the chase and get the young people ahead which they deserve and they need. So, I support this, Mr. Speaker. And let us create synergies and let us get this aspect of our economy moving and let us see how we can improve the lot of our young people in San Wichah. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. A member for Labry? Yeah, thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this evening I am very emotional. And it is not very often that I feel in this particular way. Today, if I can recall, this is the first time I have addressed this august body on the anniversary of a victory. And I cannot help on this occasion, Mr. Speaker, to take my journey through the corridors of time and remember the great struggles of those who were first and foremost in fostering the both and initial dynamics of the St. Lucia Labour Party. Our party of bread justice and freedom. And if it was not for the St. Lucia Labour Party, the entire constituency of Labry Oje would be in darkness up to now. Mr. Speaker, as I look into memory's eye, I go back to Clive Compton and saw that he built our health centre, the community centre, and we can go way back. But at this juncture, Mr. Speaker, I want to engage in a logical digression to first go on the centre line of this particular course and then digress again. At this juncture, I wish to give my full support, Mr. Speaker, to the passage of the Youth Economy Bill. The purpose of the Youth Economy Bill is to provide young people with an economic space to turn hobbies into entrepreneurship and skills to business, to establish the Youth Economy Agency for the Youth Economy Program and to facilitate the development of a Youth Economy Project and provide special incentives. Now, Mr. Speaker, a few moments ago, I said to you, if it was not for the St. Lucia Labour Party, we would have been in trouble in the People's Republic of Labry. Mr. Speaker, from 1964 to 1974, the United Workers' Party dominated the political landscape of this country and did absolutely nothing for the people of Labry. In 1974, when Labry was dismembered from Beaufort and became a separate constituency, the United Workers' Party again dominated. And I would say from 1974 until 1997, because between 1979 and 1982, it was just almost like a temporary diversion on the road from flabo to flabo. But even during this time, 1979 to 1982, we delivered bread justice and freedom to the people of this country. It was during this time that the workers of this country, Mr. Speaker, knew what it was to go to a bank and get a loan. Prior to that, they did not know anything about going to a bank and taking any loan as a traveling officer because we gave them significant increases in salaries and daily paid workers got important increases. The national commercial bank of St. Lucia was formed. The St. Lucia Development Bank was formed and we moved from national provident fund to the NIS, Mr. Speaker. In that short space of time, even when we fight, we are more effective than the United Workers' Party. And can you imagine this period of stability and calm and cohesiveness that now exists? And so, Mr. Speaker, during the period 1974 until 1997, they dominated. And when the Star of Freedom rose in this country in 1997, more than 60% of the constituency of Labry was without basic amenities. It had to take the Labour Party, an honourable villain, Leo John, to bring water to areas in Labry. I recall in 1982, when they wanted to fool the people, it was in 1992, when they wanted to fool the people of Basla, Guaslao, they brought electric poles and they brought so many pipes and they said they were going to bring electricity and water. The member for Kastri's North was on vacation during that time. I know you would not have supported that. And so, Mr. Speaker, during this time, we tried to catch up with matters of development and water and electricity rich in all areas of that constituency. Prior to that, students had to be reading to pass the exams on the candlelight and lamps, Mr. Speaker. No water in the home! They had to go in the darkness, water, rain of shine to go and get water to take up the house. Bobo was the order of the day, Mr. Speaker. During the period, 1997 to 2006, the Labry Jetty was constructed, the Vellanjourn Administrative Centre, Lacquer Road, Des Bois and Wavinpont, the La Guasse Bounce Road, and Mr. Speaker, the lands for the youth centre to be erected was purchased. In 2006 and 2011, Labry's forward movement was halted from a government standpoint, but we continue to build our constituency. We built the Labry Cooperative Credit Union, we built our Labry Development Foundation, EcoLab came into existence, and we continue the forward movement. We were an integral part of the early period of NYC with Augustine Dominic and Yudra Shiko as young people in this constituency. But despite the fact it was my very first turn in office, Mr. Speaker, and I landed in opposition, I always believe in the principles and philosophy of this St. Lucia Labour Party. Education and health care were always supported by me, because I believe that they are urgent priorities. It was during this time, Mr. Speaker, that I organised the Joseph Ives Simeon Youth Exposition every year. To pay homage to this great Viking, we had a youth exposé in his honour. I established the Pascal Watson-Louis Award of Academic Excellence at the OJ Combined School and to the other schools, and today all of them compete for that thousand dollars for the student, the top common entrance exam before this year and from this year the CPEA. Even when certain schools did not have graduation last year, I still gave the top student the thousand dollars, not book voucher, but a thousand dollars. And many of the students actually came to me and said, from the time they heard about the thousand dollars, they wanted to compete for it. Because my whole idea, when I established the Award of Excellence, was to allow them to compete for it. And Mr. Speaker, over time we have worked hard together in this constituency to bring about significant development and movement for the youth and for the people of the constituency. We came into office again in 2011 to 2016, building on the foundation that was laid by the Honourable Dr. Vellon Leo-John and the St. Lucia Labour Party. I was able to of course continue the forward movement. Montver Road, the people were suffering of that, people had to remove their shoes and walk. Today, that's no more. The Obue Road, which I share with the member of Youth of South, was built, the Bali Road, the Mission Church Road, two roads near Wilfred only, the Kuman Passad Road, Fokonwe, Edwin the Charlie Road, Black Bay Plainfield Road, Abakampesha Road, Robinson Kodra Road. And we place lands in proud to give residents title to those lands, Mr. Speaker. And in Labri Village, we continued along the same line of trying to catch up with matters of infrastructural development. Let us have a new Flamboyant Avenue, Bay Street, Plainfield Road, Lack Wa Minor Road, Cooley Tongue, Citrus Groove, Lama, Monpaul, Olibo, Beouangelao, and the establishment of the Olibo Plainfield. Mr. Speaker, I have said all of that to say to you that the St. Lucia Labour Party, if thing happens to it along the way, progress and development will go under in this country. And so I want to turn right now to the centreline of this particular route, Mr. Speaker, which is the youth economy to illustrate how it fits into the spectrum of development opportunities for the people of my constituency. Mr. Speaker, the youth economy was clearly reflected in this year's budget. The estimates are accentuated in the appropriation bill. Mr. Speaker, the youth economy bill is part of the Philip J. Pierce Administration to restructure the economy by providing an enabling environment to stimulate private sector investment, resulting in an increase in employment, as well as to provide for increasing resources to the youth, poor and vulnerable, for them to participate in the growth and development of themselves and the economy of this country. In addition, it's designed to put government in the digital age and to ensure that government services are more accessible to all of the people of St. Lucia from multiple service delivery platforms. This marks a departure from the approaches of the former WP government, which provided for a distorted form of development, resulting in widening income inequality and benefiting a select few that was coined the FFF. Mr. Speaker, one of the objectives, or the main objectives of a budget is to generate increased employment in the country and to provide a higher standard of living for the citizenry. On page 14 of the budget address, he noted and I quote the youth economy aims at transforming hobbies into entrepreneurship and skills into businesses by providing committed young people with finance, training, mentorship and marketing support. It continued, Mr. Speaker, on the same page and I quote in activities such as sports, music, entertainment, the literary art and performing arts, modelling, designing, writing and directing, agriculture, agro processing, blue economy and green economy. Mr. Speaker, the youth economy is a major policy initiative that our government has taken to provide increased opportunities for employment of our youth in this new world where emphasis is placed on the digital economy and from the growth in the blue, green and orange economies. It gives me great joy, Mr. Speaker, to see that the Prime Minister and Minister for Finance are located in this year's budget $10 million to facilitate the development of the youth economy. One of the major components of the youth economy is for the youth to become entrepreneurs and not rely on the traditional jobs available in the economy. It is noted that significant funds are being made available to provide the youth with the tools, knowledge and financial support to allow them to become business men and women and of course for them to take the place beside others in the society to grow the economy of this country and to end this high youth unemployment. And Mr. Speaker, when I talk about youth unemployment, youth unemployment has remained stubbornly high despite significant policy interventions. It is clear, Mr. Speaker, that these policy interventions have failed to have the desired impact on reducing the persistently high levels of youth unemployment. Data from the 2021 Economic and Social Review shows that the youth unemployment rate over the period 2009 to 2021 has varied from a low of 41.6% to a high of 41.8% with an average over that period of 46.9%. The reference for this data, Mr. Speaker, is page 121 of the 2021 Economic and Social Review. In effect, Mr. Speaker, this effectively means that over one third of our youth are unemployed. One in three of our youth are unemployed, Mr. Speaker. This is unacceptable, Mr. Speaker, and we need to address this fundamental problem. Of course, the high level of unemployment will be a contributing factor to many of the other social ills such as crime and drugs that impact our society. Mr. Speaker, this is a very important issue in the human capital. Imagine if the unemployed youth were gainfully employed, Mr. Speaker. This would have had a tremendous positive impact on our economy and society in terms of higher levels of GDP, reduced levels of poverty and crime. It would also have a favorable impact on the mental well-being of the youth of being employed. Mr. Speaker, the importance of the economy has been a major factor accounting for the high youth unemployment rate. After recording average real economic growth over the periods 1980 to 1989 and 1990 to 1999 of 6.6 percent and 3.5 percent respectively, St. Lucia's economy has been on a trajectory of decelerated economic growth. In the decade 2010 to 2019, and Mr. Speaker, real economic growth averaged a mere 1.3 percent. I have deliberately not taken into consideration the 2020 period given the significant impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy. It is clear, Mr. Speaker, that the current structure of the economy is not delivering the high levels of economic growth that are required to reduce youth unemployment. We now need to approach the matter of addressing youth unemployment differently. Mr. Speaker, as previous policy interventions have not worked, we cannot continue doing the same thing and expect a different result. The current economic model driving our economy anchored by tourism and supported principally by the service sector wholesale and retail and real estate with smaller contributions by construction, manufacturing and agriculture needs to be rewired so that it can deliver on the sustainable development goals. We need to build a resilient, competitive, agile and flexible economy. There are many structural impediments in our economy, Mr. Speaker, which need to be addressed if we are to reduce youth unemployment. St. Lucia's economy has been developed on a very narrow economic base with the economy highly vulnerable to fluctuations in the tourism sector. Mr. Speaker, St. Lucia runs as among the least diversified economies in the region. There is a clear need, Mr. Speaker, to diversify both within the tourism sector and more broadly into other areas which offer significant growth on employment potential. We need, Mr. Speaker, to find ourselves in the digital space and to embrace the opportunities that it provides. The rise of digital technologies and the digital economy offers a unique opportunity for St. Lucia to accelerate economic growth and job creation particularly for the youth. It will also contribute to enhancing public service delivery and building resilience. We can, Mr. Speaker, we need to create a more deeply integrated and dynamic digital economy and a digitally driven or empowered citizenry. Businesses and institutions to place us on a new growth path. This will provide us with the opportunity to build a future in which seamless and efficient public services are available at the touch of a screen from even the most remote path of the island. We are individuals equipped with the technology and soft skills to find meaningful employment particularly the youth in a knowledge and services driven regional and global economy and we are businesses and entrepreneurs are pushing the frontiers of innovation creating new jobs and accelerating the country's economic growth. Mr. Speaker, in this new world we can find employment anywhere in the world by working from home. In order to capitalise on the opportunities offered in the digital economy we need to, as a matter of urgency build digital skills and creating a stronger local and regional market for them will be critical to tackling the region's unemployment challenges and maintaining competitiveness in the global economy of the future. Our education institutions are not producing enough graduates with the workforce ready technical and soft skillsets in growing demand from digital enabled industries. It is also the case Mr. Speaker that businesses have been slow to adapt to the digital era. This has prevented those businesses from increasing the productivity and competitiveness and suppressing demand for digital talent goods and services in the market. Mr. Speaker, it is important for businesses to be aware of the potential benefits of digital technologies and business models. I wish to point out Mr. Speaker that the skills and financial resources to deploy them are also lacking particularly among small and medium enterprise businesses. Mr. Speaker, the small and medium-sized businesses are collectively the largest employers on the island and therefore there is a significant potential for creating jobs in the digital sector. Currently Mr. Speaker very few businesses accept digital platforms or use digital platforms to advertise and sell their goods and services. Fewer still are using such platforms to tap into regional and global market opportunities adopting digital centric business models or using data analytics to inform business strategy integrate customer feedback and improve efficiency. It is also the case Mr. Speaker that the lack of a large business of digital active consumers reduces the perceived return on such investments. There is a need therefore Mr. Speaker for there to be a simultaneous push on both the supply and demand sides to break out of this vicious cycle. We need to tackle what some have called a digital deficit and promote the development of the digital economy. Mr. Speaker the creation of the youth economy will go a long way in providing the impetus for the transformation of our economy. Mr. Speaker I cannot conclude this brief intervention without addressing myself to government's planned strategy of developing the green blue and orange economies. As we transition to a decarbonized economy by developing our renewable energy sector for solar, wind and geothermal energy there will be new jobs created in these sectors which will provide opportunities for our youth to be employed. It is important for us to ensure that our youth have the relevant skills and knowledge for the jobs when the renewable energy industries take off. The transition to a green economy will also reduce our dependence on fossil fuels which account for a significant percentage of our imports and foreign exchange earnings. It is clear that renewable energy prices are competitive and even in some cases lower than the price of fossil fuels so it is clear that we need to accelerate this transition to renewables Mr. Speaker which will create opportunities for the young people as established by the prime minister in his budget and the appropriation bill. This will not only help us in reducing our greenhouse gas emissions but also provide us with greater energy security and lower energy cost which will be beneficial to both consumers and businesses. Similarly Mr. Speaker we need to focus on optimizing all of the resources to ensure that we can maximize economic growth that is sustainable and does not deplete our natural capital. In this regard Mr. Speaker we need to ensure that we maximize the value that we can obtain from our ocean resources and in this regard pursue the implementation of a blue economy strategy. In the last sitting of parliament we pass a loan resolution for unleashing of the blue economy our marine resources are significantly greater than our land resources and it is therefore important Mr. Speaker that we optimize the sustainable use of these resources so that we can create significant jobs from our ocean resources for the young people of this country. The unleashing of the blue economy for Caribbean project is designed to foster economic recovery and support marine resources participating in this project. Importantly Mr. Speaker the project will strengthen the competitiveness and sustainability of two critical interconnected sectors namely fisheries and tourism and one on the line enabling infrastructure service waste management Mr. Speaker this project will aim to boost economic recovery by strengthening regional international policies and institutional frameworks to bring back businesses and attract new investments which will create new jobs in the economy for the young people of this country. In addition Mr. Speaker the project will scale up innovative financing mechanisms aim at enhancing employment and productivity in the tourism, fisheries and waste management value chains and program and a regional climate risk fisheries insurance scheme one can clearly see the nexus between the development of the youth economy and the blue economy Mr. Speaker another area that the youth economy is targeted at is the growth of the creative industry sector as accentuated by the member of you for North and more broadly the orange economy the creative industry sector in segment of our economy which has provided significant benefits to our youth we need to build on that platform that has already been laid and provide greater support to the at ease in the creative industries Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker implementation arrangements are critical to ensuring that we can successfully deliver on the desirable outcomes for the youth economy I am pleased to note the responsibility of driving the youth economy will be a statutory authority and therefore will have greater flexibility in how it operates this statutory authority has based on the bill four main areas of focus these are one training two marketing free finance loans and grants and mentorship I sincerely believe that the development is stated as the Prime Minister stated in his budget address the first step in transforming the Saint Lucia economy driven by technology innovation and entrepreneurship where young people regardless of the socio-economic status can become active participants in wealth creation and nation building Mr. Speaker I cannot conclude this extremely brief intervention without alluding to the challenge of managing the transition from the last administration to the current managing transitions from one administration to another is never easy and in this particular case it was a nightmare given the legacy bequeath to us by the former government in which the country was on the verge of being a failed state and in high risk of death default Mr. Speaker has had an excellent driver at the steering wheel an excellent economist who has been managing this economic crisis with aplomb Mr. Speaker I refer to no other than the Prime Minister and Minister for Finance economic development and youth economy the member for Casseries East the honorable Phillip Joseph Pierre Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker I close we are by no means out of the hoods as the fiscal situation that we inherited was extremely gloomy but our Minister for Finance has stabilized the situation on the recently passed budget has laid the foundation for the recovery in the short term and provide the springboard for sustained economic growth and development as a result St. Lucia will achieve the level of macroeconomic stability as well as the fiscal space opportunities for real increases in expenditure and social services reduce the cost and risk for all investors and therefore lay the foundation for increased investment and growth Mr. Speaker so today I join the patriotic members of this honorable house in commending the Prime Minister and Minister for Finance in presenting for members consideration the youth economy bill which intends to return people and expand opportunities for the youth of our country long live honorable Phillip Joseph Pierre long live the St. Lucia Labour Party and long live St. Lucia Mr. Speaker much as gracias thank you very much a member for our Salaria categories let us assume that whilst you were in this mode of preparation someone else had put on the microphone what was I to have done you have given instructions to the police officer that you are speaking next the speaker was not aware of that so all of the preparation that was taking place there had somebody else put on the microphone what then but please proceed member thank you Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker please permit me for a brief moment to pay tribute to the mover of this bill for his 25 years of service to constituency and country during the last year Mr. Speaker he has tackled the economic and social challenges confronting our country with a calmness a thoroughness and a professional analytic vigor which these times demand working with him as his junior minister in the ministry of finance to contain our inherited debt burdens to shield our people from imported and rising inflationary prices to ride the turbulent and economic waters that destiny has called upon him to come has been for me a lesson in the art of quiet but effective leadership Mr. Speaker I'd like to thank the member for cash reasons the constituency of Ansari countries thanks you Honourable Philip Joseph Pierre Member of Parliament for cash reasons I have been very liberal in this in allowing members to refer to others by name the rules specifically do not allow for it but I have been liberal you cannot directly when a member's name is called in this house he is about to be brought before the committee of privileges to be removed from the chamber we are constituencies in here not individual members please proceed Thank you Mr. Speaker the member for cash reasons Prime Minister of our beloved country for his example for his guidance for his counselling and I pledge Mr. Speaker my unwavering support as he continues his new chapter in his political history Mr. Speaker as I stand before this honourable house with the privilege to debate and represent I wish to thank the people of Ansari countries for the honour to stand here today I would also like to thank my family my constituency groups the hard-working men and women in the constituency and clearly Mr. Speaker given my navel string is buried in the constituency they responded to the question of my pedigree Mr. Speaker creating a defined space for the youth as economic actors is fundamental for our sustainable development young people given the chance have a proven capability to lead change that is a vital and valuable investment in the future having targeted policies Mr. Speaker to promote youth as an asset is a priority of this government see our manifesto Mr. Speaker commitment made commitment kept Mr. Speaker our plan to invest and empower our youth to realise their potential for training, mentorship business advisory support and the provision of financing is at the core of our transportation strategy we want to encourage and provide opportunities for youth empowerment where young people can be exposed to the economic opportunities that will lead to a reduction in poverty and enable them to make meaningful contributions to society because Mr. Speaker we recognise that all they need is a chance for life a chance at better and other opportunities a chance at being first and not last the young entrepreneurs within the constituency that require the location to apply their trade provide a service would deny that opportunity with the demolition of functional structures under the previous administration and some statistics for the member for social to educate him as to why that there is room for a youth economy he mentioned that there were existing programs already in place to assist the young people of this country so we'll just go for them very briefly Mr. Speaker he referred to boost Mr. Speaker he may be aware that out of the almost 100 applications there's only two who qualified from Ansari five from Viewfort three from Souffre and 19 he also mentioned the small business development centre of the 2083 applicants between 2017 and 2021 cash trees 45% Rosalie 23% Viewfort 9% Denry 5% Souffre 4% Souzel 3% Ansari 2% Labry 2% Canaries 1% so that gives you an understanding Mr. Speaker of why we think it's important to reach those who are not being dealt with at this point in time the young people of this country Mr. Speaker have nothing to fear of the future as nothing is as powerful as an enacted mind this bill Mr. Speaker seeks to elevate and not denigrate our young people and we all will remember the comments coming out of the last government regarding what they felt about young people you will recall in particular Mr. Speaker the words of the former member of parliament for cash trees east when he was essentially saying that young people are only interested in handouts I think we will very cash trees south east my apologies cash trees south east that young people were essentially interested in handouts we will demonstrate Mr. Speaker in the not to distant future that the young people of this country are committed, dedicated, hardworking and given the opportunity will succeed Mr. Speaker we are going to hear very shortly from the opposition I would imagine that why haven't we done more what have we inherited to allow us to do more we borrowed between March and they have borrowed between March 2020 and July 2021 a total of 823 million dollars 823 million dollars what has happened to it I can't say to you as yet Mr. Speaker but there is a bill being discussed later this evening which will begin to unravel the answers for us Mr. Speaker we believe in the young people of this country we are here to support them I therefore give my full support to this bill Mr. Speaker thank you very much a member for Micoid South a member for Micoid South I think there is an issue with the length of the cord thank you very much Mr. Speaker I rise today Mr. Speaker because anything to do with the youth or young people of our country in essence we are dealing with the future of our country and I will always take any contribution to deal with young people very seriously Mr. Speaker and I know it would be very easy to fall into the trap I have seen with other politicians of getting up and just to criticize maybe for criticize sake to find loopholes that may try to embarrass the other side or to try to undermine but I believe that there are some topics in this house Mr. Speaker that deserve much more than that when we are dealing with crime as we have all said all of us repeatedly crime is not any one particular person's problem it is all of our problems because even if we are affected directly by crime and unfortunately some people have been we are all indirectly affected by the impact of what crime does to our economy and to the psyche of our nation young people are very important Mr. Speaker and speakers before me have alluded to the fact that in the last 20 years youth unemployment has been high and many of us understand that those young persons who stayed on the block who may have chosen a different path or may not have gone down a bad road but as you have so eloquently pointed out and accurately weren't given an opportunity and as they say a mind is a horrible thing to waste we have all seen better in our lives we have seen that greatness can come from anywhere the persons who come from the most diminished and demeaning backgrounds which have found success but unfortunately Mr. Speaker those tend to be more the exception than they are the generality I am one for sure Mr. Speaker that believes that to categorize things in life is important names matter titles matter and the impression the expectation that they give so I want to say that I think that this youth economy bill is extremely well meaning I believe that giving somebody with very little opportunity the hope that they can start something and as the prime minister indicated even if they fail we would have encouraged them to apply themselves and to believe for the first time that there was an opportunity for them that's well meaning but the reality Mr. Speaker is I think the title of what we've chosen which is the youth economy bill is overambitious and particularly when you look at the details of what is being attempted to do it is huge and yet the resources extremely limited and like my colleague from Schwozell indicated Mr. Speaker there has to be some synergy there has to be some tie-in where we are maximizing the resources we've already spent all throughout our economy both in the private sector in the public sector as well as through international organizations who are all providing help of some sort to young people and if in fact that this was going to be a coordinating agency Mr. Speaker I think it would be very very successful I think an entity of individuals focus only on young people on the broader aspect of young people helping to develop policy helping to rationalize the agencies we have Mr. Speaker would have been very well placed but I see a mixture between an attempt to do that Mr. Speaker and really what seems to be the cry of the day we're talking about something that's not new this is a micro bank this is an opportunity to provide either the form of grant or very very concessionary loans small loans to individual people I mean India has mastered that art not only with young people but in particularly with housewives people who are otherwise unemployable and helping them establish their own small businesses Mr. Speaker I say that because the key ingredient to help our young people succeed and maybe in looking back in terms of what are some of our shortcomings as a country is opportunity creating an environment of competitiveness we're creating an environment in which we are producing young people who are globally competitive I'm very proud of the fact that in our mission statement as a political party we've spoken about creating a globally competitive education system because we also believe very sincerely that in order for a young person to fulfill all of their obligations or goals it may not be just possible in some loosia but for some that's sufficient but for persons who may come up with a genius idea of creating a product we should create an opportunity where those products are exposed on an international basis and I think the Prime Minister sorry the member from Castries East I apologize Mr. Speaker said that the goal is when tourists come here is to extract as much money from them as possible I agree with that but it means that we have to provide them with products that are world class products that are unique and products that are ours, indigenous to St. Lucia are special to say to somebody that they can just replicate something that already exists so if we take as an example Mr. Speaker from Castries Market t-shirts more than 90% of the t-shirts are imported but worst part is the intellectual property right on those t-shirts is imported Yemen where is our noble laureates where is our parrots where is our pitons where are our unique and special plants in our Aguanas where is the creative juices of our young people and our creative industry in coming up with designs that are unique that are uniquely ours Mr. Speaker the example I always make reference to about things not happening by accident is the athletic program in Jamaica in just recently we got to see the world championship games I'll pass no comment on what happened there but we saw the success of Jamaica the Jamaican women won 1st, 2nd, 3rd if I'm not mistaken in the 100 1st, 2nd, 3rd in the 200 and we saw many Jamaican athletes track athletes perform at the highest levels and that is something that we've become accustomed to the reality is that in a large part the success of that program is the competition that is taking place at the preschool and the high school levels and I've always said that the most amazing part about Usain Bolt's success on a global scale becoming one of the greatest track athletes that we've ever had wasn't Usain himself was the fact that his coach was a high school coach that his coach stayed with him and took him to that level that tells you the quality of coaching that's taking place at that level and it's an amazing thing and the reality is the games that they have and that level of competition at the junior high school and high school level drives that level of competition that competition drives excellence and creates within young people all the values that you require to be successful in life and so many successful business persons have found early successes whether it's in the sports or in the arts or some level of competition and it is what they developed as young people to succeed that carries through with them to everything else that our job really as a country Mr. Speaker is to create an opportunity for where we believe that people have the greatest opportunity to succeed I for many years have continued to hear people speak about how fickle tourism is yet after 9-11 fastest recovering industry in the world was tourism after the recession the fastest recovering industry in the world is tourism and the reality is that tourism is becoming the largest has become the largest industry in the world and more importantly Mr. Speaker is that for many people around the world and a growing number of those persons travel is no longer an option it's not a luxury it's become a wave of lifestyle and the reality is that people are growing old of simply going somewhere just on a beach vacation and it requires us to be able so I want to say that United Workers Party cognizant of what I've been saying understood that you can do some things that might solve the problem in part so I'm proud of the fact that when we came into office in 2016 youth unemployment was 44% by the end of 2019 that number was down to 31% we're moving in the right direction and so some immediate interventions and the examples are the NAT program where we saw that there was an opportunity to get young people employed in the cruise industry an opportunity for them to get training at a world class level and to be paid a salary to do so so they wouldn't have to go into debt in a tech voc industry in which skill sets are so important the NAT program in terms of what we did in terms of getting Ojo lab here I tell BPO and also working with KM Squared to say are there opportunities that we can facilitate immediate employment because we knew that those sectors were going to favor younger persons doesn't resolve the problem for every single young person but as I said it was an immediate and measure that bore immediate results in the meanwhile what we understood is that we have to change our education system we have to create a new curriculum that's suited towards what we think younger people are going to do creative industries intellectual property rights trademarking understanding and even before COVID where it exploded the opportunity to work for international companies and being based in San Lucia so a back of the office operation a BPO operation really is where a company opportunities for individual persons to be able to do the same thing to stay here in San Lucia and work for Apple to work for Google to work for Fortune 500 companies and the significant benefit is is that they get to be with their family and the income that they're earning which is no longer on a domestic basis but on an international basis creates a huge opportunity Mr. Speaker young people working at a young age either through apprenticeship programs or taking out original jobs so for instance we may say boy going to work at a hotel that's not a lifestyle but guess what when you're working there you're earning a salary but you're learning about the industry you're meeting foreigners you're starting to think see how they think and I always use the example and his wife got a job but he couldn't get a job very difficult and he remembered the recipe that his mother had for rum cake and so he decided to make a rum cake and the name of the rum cake was called Tortuga rum cake and it was kind of original in that he put this octagonal box together and he started selling that rum cake to one hotel and eventually he started doing well and he started selling it to multiple hotels in Cayman and then what happened is that long before the internet came we used to have mail orders and so the business people that were coming down would put in regular orders to him to provide the Tortuga rum cake as gifts to their friends and to their business associates and eventually his business grew into the duty free shops and he started pairing in Puerto Rico and in the other parts of the Caribbean and now they are actually providing branded products on a global basis through the distribution of duty free as far as Hong Kong remember I was passing through Hong Kong and I saw Tortuga rum cake there I was amazed now when he started he was very dependent on that one hotel and he grew to be dependent on tourism in Cayman and then he grew to depend on tourism in the Caribbean and now he's grown into an international business and that's what I've always said one thing I know about almost 99% of every single big business in the world is started small and it's the fundamentals that you learn in a small business and applying new technologies etc that allow you to grow into a much bigger business so when we think of it is naive to think of it as only the number of tourists that come to San Lucia in fact there's a huge opportunity now with the internet that if we're successfully using the 1.2 million tourists that are coming to San Lucia and exposing them to the different brands of cocoa the different brands of coffee the different brands of rum that we have that they become exposed to that model very successfully in Puerto Rico and in fact created a tour that they actually subsidize and it really helped their marketing program so Mr. Speaker putting these infrastructure into place is very important if we're going to deal with the young people of this country and creating an environment in which they can get proper training for them to be able to succeed is important it's not going to happen by itself it is not going to happen by itself so Mr. Speaker United Workers Party created the NAP program the Grozallet Academy Village Tourism TVLage so imagine the model that was created in Grozallet what was that created for Mr. Speaker what was TVLage created for was to create an opportunity for small business people to be given an environment in which they can succeed how many small business people I saw having to squat on the side of a road find a piece of a walkway to open up a small business and I can say to you the businesses that moved into the Grozallet TVLage it was empowering and for the first time they actually now had a piece of real estate that whether they were leasing it or at least to purchase now had equity to be able to go to the banks with and to show that they had stability in the development of the West Coast Road Mr. Speaker we're seeing a massive opportunity for multiple TVLages when you pass by Rozo and you see vendors on the side of the road Mr. Speaker so I'm saying to you Mr. Speaker all of those things were being put in place and examples and models were being set around this country to create that environment now what I'm saying Mr. Speaker is we're not going to solve the youth problem with one bill you're not going to solve the youth problem by calling it the youth economy and some magically way that that's going to wave a wand to solve this problem by developing state with a limited population of 180,000 with very high cost of operations we're going to have to be creative on how we're going to do that and so business entrepreneurship becomes a very critical component to what we're talking about so Mr. Speaker when you review some of the things that we did and spoke about in our manifesto so today I heard about agro processing as if there was something magical or unique about providing incentives that's been done for years so we said provide training to add value to our cultural products so the prime minister made reference to bananas he forgets the reason why people were laughing was because he was suggesting that people eat more bananas but now I see that that has now transformed over time into actually using bananas as a byproduct to produce banana paper to do banana flour to do all kinds of different things with banana which we've always supported in fact when you go in to invest in Saint Lucia you will see that the branding of brand Saint Lucia was linked to our culture was linked to the call centers was linked to every single product that we were producing to take advantage of the synergy of a singular brand to encourage young farmers to venture into the production of honey and its byproducts provide concessions for the purchase of machinery and equipment in the area of tourism provide training in tourism provide access to funding $10