good morning to you good morning you awake time to get up actually release these in the evening so I should ask you are you still awake wake up not time to go to bed yet we're in oh where are we I didn't even tell you where we were last night I don't even know we're in North Dakota I know that I think we're on exit 331 or something like that we're in a town called one second let me ask the almighty Google we're in a town called oh is there even a town here truck trash Castleton we're in Castleton North Dakota we just got off we're about to get headed out there on the road beautiful truck stop here oh it says it right on the water tower right there could have just looked right there city of Castleton that's typical of me so I'm gonna go up to Carrington North Dakota where I'm gonna fill up these tanks that's where the best fuel price is for me today along my route and then we're gonna head up across the border from portal North Dakota into North portal Saskatchewan in Canada go up to Langbank Saskatchewan where we're gonna sleep there at our customer or close by the customer anyways I know whitewood is just a little ways away from there might go up to there we'll see and we unload this load first thing tomorrow morning and then I probably head home I'm not sure if they're gonna have anything for me before I have to leave we have to sign papers with our lawyers in a couple of days which means I've got to be home so once that's done then off we go I guess it's time it's moving time rock turn that on okay just in case anybody needs to haul her at me lights on just in case people need to see me windows down in case I need some fresh air put the truck in gear cuz I want to go forward well let's just make sure our trailer is gonna come with us we're gonna roll forward about 10 feet or so and wow spike the trailer break that confirms that the trailer is attached breaks engage and they release okay you know the drill let's get out of here let's go to Saskatchewan ordinary oh boy lots to see today all the way across North Dakota mean to Saskatchewan so much scenery looking so forward to it actually I kid but North Dakota's actually got quite a bit of scenery and so does Saskatchewan and the prairies and planes here are home to me so I do love this region the best this is my favorite region of North America from Manitoba all the way down to Kansas Saskatchewan Alberta Montana my favorite part of this continent everything's so wide open there's lots of space everybody's very friendly yeah it gets cold but like I was explaining the other day that's okay the cold keeps out the riff-raff I used to call the riff-raff until my wife started making fun of me friends riff-raff trouble makers and poisonous animals it's too cold to cause problems here directly into the wind for most of the day it's coming straight from Canada and we're going right towards Canada we had such great fuel economy all the way from Iowa up to here and then you hit the planes and the prairies and the wind gets you every time that's how you know you're at home because you got to hold your hat on your head because the wind will blow it right off in the temp that guy made dangerously passing me I had to hit the brakes so he could get in front of me the first time he came up beside me on a solid line and that didn't teach him anything so he did it again so I finally let off to let him pass me because I was scared he was gonna kill somebody around me I just want him out of my hair I don't understand why drivers do that I'm doing the speed limit right now but he wants to do two miles an hour faster right he's got to do that two miles an hour faster save that 30 seconds everybody out here on the roads is trying to get home to their families but that guy his time is more valuable than your life pulling into the case he's at Carrington just a little ways down the road from where that guy pulled that genius maneuver proceed to the highlighted route I know I'm gonna park here for a little bit let him get away from me a little further I want nothing to do with him the first time he pulled out to pass me pulled up right in front of an oncoming truck almost had a head on collision a second time that happened it's just I want as much space between me and him as possible just don't understand people like I was saying earlier today there's gonna be people out there that make you very angry on the road we got to try our best to be professional and control our emotions on the road that guy made me so upset was like I was saying that was the second time he tried to get past me the first time he pulled out to pass me there's an oncoming semi truck it was around a corner I could see the semi truck coming he had a solid line pulls out to pass gets almost halfway past me and this big truck comes around the corner that he finally sees has to slam on the brakes and going back behind me the second time he pulled out to pass it was over a hill just a little bit I could see there was a car coming but he just kept going that time he kept going and he I guess he just gonna push me off the road so I slept I hit the brakes so he get in front of me now this is all too common of an occurrence this isn't uncommon unfortunately especially up in this area not in North Dakota but around unfortunately when you get back up closer to Canada you see this more often where guys are taking just ridiculous dangerous chances and you see them in the ditch all the time especially the first snowfall like it's supposed to snow tomorrow actually tonight and tomorrow up in Canada guaranteed guys like that you're gonna see him in the ditch jack night right away I don't know how these guys are getting their driver's licenses I don't know who's hiring them I don't know how they get behind the wheel but they're the ones you got to look out for he was impatient about this close to my bumper behind my truck when he caught up to me he was back there for maybe with 10 miles I saw him back there I tried to radio him I said I see you back there as soon as it's clear I'll let you know when you come on past right I'm not gonna make it hard on you my even slow down obviously doesn't use his radio I mean I didn't use mine for years either but anyways he pulls out to pass I flash on my cargo lights to let him know it's not safe he comes out anyway I try letting him know there's a car coming driver there's a car coming back off getting back off and that was the second guy who did that to me today already to both with Canadian plates one was British Columbia plate one was an Ontario plate the US drivers seem to have a lot more sense about them unfortunately I'm a Canadian driver today it's been trucks from back home and that upsets me because I really love our our friends here in the US these are our brothers and sisters this is our closest ally they're our family and being here is a privilege we are their guests and we're supposed to act accordingly and act with respect respect their country respect our laws and respect their highways especially their people don't put their people in danger by driving dangerously in their country that's ridiculous so when I see people with Canadian plates in the US driving like that and putting other people at risk it really makes my blood boil even more because they're putting a bad name on me now when other people when they see that and then they come up behind my truck and they see Canadian plates that's what they're gonna think of oh great another one of these Canadian drivers better keep our distance the sky's crazy gives me a bad name so like I say every day usually at the end of my vlog just remember when you're out there to drive safe saving that extra 10 seconds isn't always worth it a lot of well all of Canadian trucks that operate within Ontario and Quebec are governed at 65 miles an hour 105 kilometers an hour if you're following someone that's going 103 kilometers an hour or 62 63 miles an hour and you know you're limited at 65 or 105 kilometers are just a little bit faster than they're going you don't need to be doing that extra little tiny tiny bit just match their speed at a safe distance you're not gonna save any time by getting around them it's gonna take you 15 20 miles to pass them because you can only do 65 and they're already doing 62 63 just ease off the throttle deep breath no rush okay I know every freight every load freight is a rush I know we're always in a rush everybody's in a rush I was afraid yesterday but it's not worth people's lives for two miles an hour it's not worth going two miles an hour faster just match their speed go to safe distance I mean me saying that's not gonna change anything I know but maybe maybe next time someone comes up behind someone they start getting in patient they'll think oh you know what trucker Josh said maybe you know let cooler heads prevail yeah I don't have to get past him I don't have to be doing two miles an hour faster that extra 30 seconds I'm gonna say or the extra five ten minutes I'm gonna save isn't a big deal you know let's just match their speed let's not do anything crazy and put other people at risk we had a long way to go today yet not too long but with five hours or so five six hours so let's hope that that is the end of today's today's events like that I have a feeling there will be more this is a two-lane highway speed limit here used to be 60 mile an hour they bumped it up to 65 now now if I'm doing about 65 and someone comes up behind me limited at 65 and a half they get very impatient and they like to tailgate me and then try to you know pull it to pass me on a two-lane highway and take 10 20 miles to pass me and it's just it gets annoying after a while like usually I'll slow down I'll let you pass if there's lots of room I'll let you pass get out of my hair or whatever but if it just keeps happening again and again and again I'm just come on guys okay I feel better now see I vented to you into my windshield and I didn't take it out on that guy specifically and I didn't escalate that situation he's gonna have to learn his lesson eventually but you know I've got a job to do right now I don't think I'm the person to teach him that lesson I'm sure he will make one of those dumb maneuvers in front of a police officer eventually and and they can take care of it I just hope that he doesn't hurt anybody along the way gotta keep trying to make it by maybe even get ahead a little bit we have it a lot better here than people around in other parts of the world but I don't like to use that as an excuse for complacency or just content sure yeah we have it better than a lot of other people but we could also have it a lot better yet you know this is my not North Dakota just to our left here is shots crossroad so when a stop gets fuel in a shower looks like they redid it again did they paint it looks nice sitting below quarter tanks of fuel we're probably gonna be buying about 165 gallons or so this guy doing parked right in the middle of the fuel lane here turn left on 20th Street and then turn right in 40 years no no we're gonna fuel first I've never fueled here before so this is something new when you're done feeling you obviously can't pull forward because you'd be blocking everything looks like the pumps are exactly the same as that any flying J or loves double check my app right now make sure that the price hasn't jumped up since this morning go here search nearby this app is connected to my fuel card which gives me the true prices of what I'll pay one second it's gotta update where I'm at I'm in my not there we go it did jump up since this morning man two cents so we could have fueled in Carrington but whatever we made it here same price $4.70 or 471 per gallon jumped up two cents since this morning man up and down up and down up and down mostly just up mostly just let's be honest all right so I've gone and parked in a parking spot I'm gonna go and grab a shower I do get a free shower here with 50 gallons or more of Phil and the numbers are in we filled up for 162 gallons my prediction was 165 so that's pretty quick I know my truck that equals 613 liters the last time we filled up was in Urbana at the Casey's in Iowa from there we went all the way down to West Burlington and then all the way back here to my not that was 1616 kilometers or 1000 miles on one Philip like I said price here was $4.71 a gallon USD equals $762.87 American or with all conversions and everything else added into it in Canadian a dollar 71 per liter or a thousand forty eight dollars and four cents Canadian average 6.2 miles per gallon or 37.95 liters per hundred kilometers and that's not bad because I parked over the weekend right I didn't idle much I just idled a little bit probably for about in total maybe a couple of hours just to keep my battery is charged because I was working with my computer and I could drain the battery and so I keep that up plus I have my cooler running in here so maybe like two hours through at the whole weekend I had the truck islands that's not too bad and that's all added in there so now I went in and got my receipt I'm gonna take that up to the front desk there's gonna be a shower ready for me I'm gonna go clean myself up and then we're gonna head into Saskatchewan long gone to Saskatchewan long gone to Saskatchewan have you guys looked up that song yet it's a good song I don't know if you guys been paying attention but today is your lucky day you guys want some bull snot we're doing a bull snot give away today remember we talked about it this last weekend bull snot is gonna send you four cans of their product all you have to do is go to their website down below bullsnot.com or bullsnotcanada.com unfortunately this giveaways only for residents of Canada and the United States at this time just so you know but this is the first bull snot one so if you guys want to try out their products I'd recommend them I use it I'm not getting paid to advertise this to you or anything there's really good people and they're helping me out I'm helping them out and we want to get some of their products into your hands that you can try it for yourself and then tell all your friends about it as well so what you got to do is you got to go down below find the link to their website below my video go to their website and find one of their products that you would like to use if you've used one already let me know which ones you've used let me know what you think of it come back from their website to here leave me a comment down below we'll pick a good what we'll pick the best one we'll pin it to the top and we'll get in touch with you and we'll be probably doing the giveaways like sending them out at the end of the month or something like that we'll work it out with you but we will we will get in contact with you so stay tuned you've seen me using bull snot in all my all my videos before right you know they're their main product I would say my cans are all beat up or any because I have them bouncing around in my truck here beside me but I keep them within arms reach all the time this is the visible this is better than Windex in some places I've heard that's even kicked Windex off the shelves and they've replaced it with bull snot visible it's glass cleaner marketed as glass cleaner but you can use it for pretty much anything else it's safe for all services use it on the paint everything I used to clean everything it works really well my father-in-law uses the products as well so does my dad you don't know till you try it right so you want a couple of free ones let me know down below first go to their website and come back tell me something about their products that I know that you went to the website obviously the website bullsnot.com is for my American friends the website bullsnotcanada.com is for my Canadian fellow citizens so I want to make sure that you actually go and check out the website okay that's why I'm saying come back and tell me something about one of the products that you learned about there maybe a new one that you haven't seen before convince me that you've learned something new from their website down below in the comment section okay the most convincing one that I know that I know that you went to there I know that you went to the website that'll be the winner good luck we're doing one of these giveaways per week to the end of the year of 2023 we're doing another house giveaway soon we got nine more of these to go before the end of the year as well we've already done one the other day last weekend so make sure you're watching every day because I'm gonna have a new challenge for you every day it's gonna be something different and I have to get you to do something just like this go to their website and tell me something you learned about their products in the comment section pay attention because there's another house giveaway coming up again too and there'll be another bullsnot one next week I'm just not gonna tell you what day they're on all right today is getting darker out there it's time to get going I've been here for an hour and a half now had my shower had a cinnamon bun it was delicious if you were wondering fantastic now that I'm all cleaned up I can get back out there on the road I've got another two hour and a half to the border and then put another hour up from there yet so two and a half three hours of driving today yet and then we'll shut down they're expecting me there in the morning tomorrow we'll go unload and from the sounds of it it looks like I'm just going to be headed home after that empty but we'll see we'll see if anything comes up you never know you never know right I can't go too far because we got important stuff coming up and I have some time booked off for the move have I mentioned that today I know I mentioned that every day you're probably sick of hearing it from me but it's the biggest thing going on in my life right now I'm trying not to talk about it too much I'm just really excited so sorry not sorry hands are a little sticky I've got like sticky fingers sticky cinnamon bun fingers what's this come on come on what's wrong with this what's going on here there it is some hand sanitizer I don't get that on there we go that's my solution okay oh I got the sugar rushes now yes I also got a coffee I'm very excited very excited it's a Colombian coffee Colombian makes the best coffee okay give that to you guys they are ready to roll out just since I've been here a little while let's just do the little tug test to make sure nothing's happened make sure no one's been messing around with my stuff make sure the brakes still work and release there we go we gotta go this way I don't point it the wrong way whoops the doodles oh great of course and this guy's gonna be right there okay there you go bud just my luck that's what I mean I'm the Truman effect right as soon as you start rolling that's when everyone else wants rolls through the same space at the same time he didn't even wave thank you so I didn't wave at him either take that I could have just kept going forward and forced him to back up that would have made more sense right we don't know this way down that road what made more sense if he would have backed up right cuz he's going right down a driveway I was backing around the corner whatever whatever there's a yield sign right here feels like there should be a stop sign though you know I'm gonna stop anyway no wait for that pickup truck cuz I'm way too nice sometimes I hate how nice I am I should have gone there was yield I didn't have to stop but I knew that I was gonna be slower than him so if he comes in behind me I'm just gonna be slowing him down right as well as let him in front of me full out here all the hills amazing my not there's a massive or Air Force base here United States Air Force pretty safe place to be I think that's the main reason for this town right is the Air Force base huge it's a whole town all like the town or the Air Force is a town itself my not is sort of like the supporting town beside it and I want to turn left here nice truck nice truck don't worry I won't hit you okay we got a green light ahead come on guys let's go let's go I figured he was gonna do that that's okay didn't slow me down at all oh and now we got to wait for traffic wonderful cast that helps you we're probably gonna see some snow tonight we're gonna see snow tomorrow still a chance that I'm wrong bad the snow is might want to be at the truck stop so that I have just a case of my truck doesn't keep me warm at my bunk heater stops or my batteries die or warm place to go into I like to be at a 24-hour truck stop so that I can go inside keep warm about zero right now or 32 Fahrenheit southern Saskatchewan oil country first-door destination I think I'm gonna sleep right in customer I think that's the best spot they said that that's okay for me to do done it before as well and that way we're there first thing in the morning and we're unloaded first thing in the morning they get there at 7 a.m. so hopefully I'll be out of there by so far no snow yet but there has been questionable raindrops we didn't make it to the customer I could have but I found a much better spot to park on the way in Carlisle Saskatchewan I'll show you here on the screen where I'm at so it's a little co-op little co-op gas station little truck parking area right off to the side here no other trucks here it's getting pretty cold out it's not cold cold but like I said it's below zero today so what let's see what the forecast is for right here I want to have somewhere where I can get close close to a building that I can get inside I don't know if these guys are open 24 hours I should probably check that but at least I'm in town so there's like hotels right across the street and right down there so if something were to happen and my truck doesn't heat like I have a bunk heater I will bath so bunk heater underneath my sleeper which keeps my cab warm at night if that were to break down and then I try to start the truck my batteries are dead I'm like oh no I'm freezing and I can't keep myself warm well worst case scenario I can walk if this place is closed I can walk just to a hotel over there and go in their lobby warm up or book a room if they make me like I'm just trying to stay warm guys but if you want me whatever at least I have an option right other than just freezing we're coming up to that season again where you heard me talk about it through all of the past previous winters if you've been following me for a while you you know that I've been doing this for a while I have 12 years of vlogs here on YouTube go to my my channel click my name below the video after this and go to my playlist you can go all the way back to way back in the day when I had hair and a gigantic crazy bushman beard before I met Britt when diesel was with me he was just a little pup we've gone through several different trucks in that time already but so you guys know what I'm getting at it you guys know that in the winter time I like to be prepared because I've been caught off guard before and I've learned my lessons that it's all in the vlogs if you go back so one winter it wasn't too too far away from here but 100 200 miles away from here in Saskatchewan anyways it was minus 60 that day if you're wondering what's minus 60 in Fahrenheit it doesn't matter it's colder than you want to feel minus 60 in Fahrenheit let's see these guys oh these guys close at 10 p.m okay so they're not open 24 hours it's fine like I said we have other options what is minus 60 Celsius in Fahrenheit Celsius is equivalent to minus 76 degrees Fahrenheit okay so it's minus 76 degrees Fahrenheit it sounds even better when I say it in American minus 76 Fahrenheit and I ran my tanks or I left my tanks empty overnight when I slept almost empty because I was going to fuel up in the morning right I didn't want to fuel up at night I'll fuel up in the morning I didn't know at the time because I was younger and inexperienced I didn't have anybody on YouTube teaching me these things I know I had my dad and he probably would have taught me these things if I would have asked him but uh you know I was a young kid and I figured I know best I know better why ask dad for advice I've also grown out of that and I've learned that it's much better to ask advice of your dad he has saved me many times already so so uh it was minus 76 I slept all night with about a quarter tank of fuel which means that the fuel was warm because the engine was running and keeping that fuel warm circulating through the engine back to the tanks it keeps the fuel warm what that does is the rest of the tank is very cold and what happens when you put like warmer liquids in a cold environment right or differences in temperature you get condensation so I got condensation that built up inside my tank what did that do it all ran down into the fuel and now I had water in my fuel and what that does is gels up your fuel it went through my fuel lines in the morning when I was way out in the middle of nowhere Saskatchewan out by uh Chamberlain Saskatchewan driving down the road all of a sudden engine shuts off will not run what had happened is all of that condensation gets into the tanks turns into a gel like a putty like gel substance you call like gelled fuel goes into your fuel lines it plugs up your fuel filter because before your fuel goes into the motor it goes through a filter right the fuel goes through the gel doesn't eventually enough gel piles up on the filter that it actually blocks off the whole filter from letting any fuel into the engine whatsoever now the engine is starved of fuel and you're not going anywhere so I was very lucky that I I got the engine sputtering up enough that I could limp it back to town which was about five to ten miles where was I exactly between five and ten miles back to Chamberlain because I was I just gone through this town Chamberlain's this tiny little town maybe a population of like a hundred people but there's a hotel there they had a no pet policy but since it was minus seventy six Fahrenheit and I was stranded my engine wouldn't run I turned my bunk heater on that was gelled up too right because the gel it takes the the the heater under there takes fuel from your tanks so that gelled up and so I had to get a hotel room to stay warm and I had diesel to take care of too I didn't want him to freeze to death so I went to the hotel and I told them my situation and they made an exception on their no pet policy for me and me and diesel diesel was allowed in and the exception was that they were that they allowed him to bring his pet me into the hotel room which was very nice of them so I didn't have to sleep outside but that's that's the night I learned because the next day I had to get a tow from there into Regina which is an hour further south of there and had to have the truck just sit inside that's the only thing you do to fix that is you take the truck into a warm shop and let it sit in there for 24 hours 12 to 24 hours you change the filters and you add some anti-gel uh like howl's diesel treatment products you can add that to it to uh get rid of that gel in the tanks the way you prevent all of this the lesson that I learned from that the way you prevent all of that is go to bed with full tanks of fuel so that there's no room for condensation to build up number one number two always have a plan when it's minus 76 Fahrenheit outside don't go running out into the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night because if something happens it's going to be way harder to get help than if that happened during the day so try to operate during daylight hours as much as possible when the sun goes down you stop within reason because the sun goes down so early up here but try to get an early early start and stop early in the wintertime especially doesn't always work that way I get it I like running nights I run into the night all the time all the time and it's a risk I take I know better but I take the risk anyway so I learned that lesson and also the biggest lesson that I learned be very careful where you park this all ties into have a plan in the wintertime have extra blankets with you because if the worst happens and you can't find a warm place to go to your truck won't start and you can't get your your cab to get heated and you're stuck you have no other options you have to have blankets and you have to have food and you have to have a way of keeping warm in your truck you have to be prepared so we're not to that point of winter right now yet where you have to be that prepared but we are getting to the point where it's it's gonna get a little bit cold tonight uncomfortably cold I'm not gonna I'm not at risk of dying or anything but I'm already getting into that habit of parking somewhere in a town or somewhere where I can have somewhere warm to go if I need to tonight the forecast it is supposed to go oh severe weather alerts well that was for my not oh good thing we love my not oh it's not here okay so it's minus two Celsius here right now it's only going down to minus six overnight but there is a snowfall warning in effect oh starting at 3 a.m wonderful another reason why you don't want to be parked out in the middle of nowhere you might wake up covered in snow you kind of want civilization around you just in case of that right so uh what is minus six Celsius and Fahrenheit minus six degrees Celsius is 21.2 degrees Fahrenheit that's how cold is going to get down to tonight which isn't life or death that's fine I do want to make sure that I am close to civilization though especially because of that snowfall warning now I don't want to be parked out in the middle of nowhere because there's no services at the customer there if something were to happen there's nobody there nobody and it's way out in the middle of nowhere they're not getting there till 7 a.m and if there's a snowfall warning in effect there's not even a guarantee that they're going to be there at 7 a.m they might be late to work they might not come into work at all depending on how much snow we get so if that happens at least I'm here right and I'm safe so now I'm going to call them first thing in the morning make sure that they're there at work if it's really bad that way when I show up there I'm not the only guy there right and if I slept there overnight and it we end up having this huge snowstorm and nobody even comes into work tomorrow well now I'm stuck there all by myself no shelter no convenience stores no bathrooms nothing just parked out in a parking lot in the middle of a field pretty much no field it's not a good idea so that was a long way of telling you the reason why I'm staying in Carlisle Saskatchewan tonight I hope that made sense as winter approaches this is my time to sort of maybe teach you little lessons of what I've learned don't look at me like I'm some kind of trucker guru I'm still learning things every day I have an open mind to learn new things I'm okay with being wrong on some things and then learning how to do them better I'm just I can teach you how like these lessons that I've learned so tune in tomorrow's a new vlog we'll see how much snow we get overnight let's wake up here together in the morning see how bad it is we're safe we're in a good location there's an a and w right here so we can get some onion rings in the morning I like that oh my mouth is watering now shoot oh shouldn't have said anything oh remember everybody winter is coming here on the canadian prairies winter is here when you get out on the highways please think of me think of all us other truckers out here please drive safe please don't cut us off please give us space and we'll try to do the same for you right my trucking brothers and sisters let's also look out for the four wheelers out there drive like you have someone to go home to because I do and I know you do too even if it's your dog or your cat or your tv we all want to get home when we leave the driveway we leave with the expectation that we're going to come back at the end of the day let's just make sure that that happens for all of us I'll see you tomorrow don't forget to subscribe everyone thanks for watching


Here's your news around the Pacific. I'm Airman First Class, Brant Seld. In the Philippines, U.S. and Philippine service members conduct bilateral canine training during Exercise Balikatan 23 at Clark Air Base. The training allows service members to demonstrate their capabilities and learn from each other. Originally, U.S. military working dogs complete a 120-day training program in San Antonio, Texas, and are trained to patrol, scout, search buildings, and detect either narcotics or explosives. Also in the Philippines, during Balikatan 2023, U.S. Marines alongside Philippine Marines conduct bilateral training at Santa Juliana. Balikatan 2023 is the 38th iteration of the annual bilateral exercise between the armed forces of the Philippines and the U.S. military. The exercise includes three weeks of training focused on amphibious operations, command and control, humanitarian assistance, urban operations, and counterterrorism skills throughout northern and western Luzon. And in Okinawa, Kadena Air Base recently completed its Air Park Static Display Restoration Project. The historical aircraft suffered rust damage and corrosion over the years from the humid environment. Brigadier General David Eglin, the 18th Wing Commander, pivoted wing leadership's efforts away from the costly deconstruction of the aircraft and instead focused on restoring them at lower cost. The restoration process took five months. That's it for this edition. I'm Airman First Class Brant Sove. For more news around the Pacific, follow the Department of Defense on social media.


To open the World Economic Forum on Latin America, we welcome the President of the Auditor of the Republic, Mr. Mali Samakri, joined by the Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, Professor Klaus Schwab, also joined by the Managing Director for Latin America, Marisol Arigeta. Thank you very much. I would first like to thank President Marisol Makri and his government, the government of Argentina, as well as the mayor of the city of Buenos Aires, Horacio Rodíguez Lareda, and his excellent work team for welcoming us to this very beautiful city. I would also like to especially recognize our co-chairs, Ashish Elvani, Marcos and Alejandro Borgironi, Hans Paul Berkler, Eduardo Elstein, and Patricia Spinoza Cantellano. This morning I welcome over 1,100 leaders from over 63 countries from all of the world's regions who are joining us here today in Buenos Aires. I would particularly like to thank the ministers and representatives of over 12 Latin American governments gathering this morning and tomorrow in Argentina. Thank you for being here. I would also very especially like to thank the representatives of Latin American youth through the global shapers attending, as well as the – they'll be meeting in the city of Córdoba over the weekend to give us insights and perspectives of youth with a visionary approach and with all of the energy they can contribute to our beloved Latin America. I would also like to welcome the young global leaders from all over the world who have been gathering since the beginning of this week here in Buenos Aires and also special thanks to the young global leaders from Argentina who for many years had invited us to hold our regional meeting in this wonderful country. The World Economic Forum also expresses its solidarity to Colombia, to Peru, and to the Latin American communities which unfortunately suffer as a result of natural disasters. We convey our affection to all those who are now suffering from these hardships. And now I will switch to English. At the time of intense political cycles, with ten elections coming in the next two years, it is also slowly recovering with economic rates but with remaining societal challenges and demands. We need to increase productivity and prioritize policies to continue delivering on the economic and the social fronts by investing in people, in institutions, and in infrastructure as one of our co-chairs shared earlier this morning. At the same time, global shifts and hemispheric geopolitical adjustments have a political and an economic impact on Latin America as do the COP21 and the Sustainable Development Goals agendas that set out an important consensus for Latin America and for the rest of the globe and thus offer an ideal space for private public collaboration. All of these changes are taking place in the midst of a bigger one. This is the fourth industrial revolution. All these changes provide through technological change and innovation to connect people in remote areas, to modernize industries, to transform jobs, and to provide many new opportunities for entrepreneurs and for individuals in the region. Latin America's future should then embrace and leverage the fourth industrial revolution to deliver sustainable, inclusive growth and continue reducing poverty. All these require the leadership and the committed engagement across all levels of society. I would like to express our hope for the current global and regional conditions to help catalyze practical integration in Latin America. It's my best wish for the Ministers of Mercosur and the Pacific Alliance who are also gathering here in Buenos Aires. I wish you every success and for the rest of our participants. I wish you a very fruitful, successful day and hope you will continue to contribute to the prosperity of Latin America. Thank you very much. I would now like to ask our Founder and Executive Chairman, Professor Klaus Schwab, to address the audience. Thank you, Professor. What great pleasure, Mr. President, to be back here in Argentina. I remember when we met in Davos, you described the potential of Argentina. Now, after having assumed the highest responsibility in this country, we see how you use this potential and you put Argentina really back on the geoeconomic and geopolitical map. I just would like to underline what Marisol said. We are at the beginning of a completely new age dominated by technological progress. And in the future, the cards of competitiveness will be redistributed. Innovation will be the key, the decisive factor to survive in the landscape, in the competitive landscape of tomorrow. Mr. President, I was very delighted to see a headline in Financial Times. As I think it was last week, we said, Buenos Aires heading directly from the 19th to the 21st century. That's what we wish to do together. That's what we wish to do together. We know the big challenges can only be solved. The big opportunities can only be exploited if there is public-private cooperation. If all stakeholders, inclusive the young generation, civil society sitting here in this room, really cooperate. If everybody serves more, the community he belongs to or she belongs to, not just his own interests. And I think here you are a good example with your personal engagement for the public good. I just would like to mention one other reason why it is so important to keep an eye on Argentina. We should not forget, next year you will have the presidency of the G20. And we all know what issues, I don't envy you because there will be so many issues on the agenda. But I know under your leadership the world, not only Argentina, will make progress to create the base for a more prosperous, a more peaceful future. And now, ladies and gentlemen, join me in welcoming very cordially the President of Argentina. Good morning and welcome to each and every one of you. It's so good to be here today working. I would like to welcome all those of you visiting us from around the world and especially from our own region. I hope you will also have some time to get to know more about us, to visit and do a bit of sightseeing and see the city and the country. Cordoba is also a lovely place. I know you'll be there at the weekend but there are so many other places worth visiting. And when you get to see them, you take a liking to them and you want to see them more and more, especially at a time as unique as this one. And I would like to make three brief comments before moving on to our conversation with Professor Schwab regarding developments in Argentina in the region and around the world. And first off, I would also like to say that we are delighted to have the World Economic Forum being held in Buenos Aires, Argentina after so many years as it is an intelligent platform for exchanges between the public and private sectors and for designing long-term policies, which is what we all need. Now, on Argentina, thank you for your comments, Professor. It is clear that what started 15 months ago in our country is much deeper and profound than just an economic change. It's a cultural change. It is a change based on a year-long learning process during which we were led along the wrong paths and by values that did not really represent the essence of the Argentine people. Today, we are determined to bet on the future. This room has the scent of the future, a future based on the truth, based on putting problems on the table, dealing with them, and solving them. It's about being predictable. We want to be reliable because clearly, trust is the driver for growth in any society. And for that, we also believe in the importance of dialogue as an instrument that had been lost in Argentina. Dialogue within and with the rest of the world to find the best roots for development. Because as you said, for next year's G20, today it may perhaps look more clear and stable which way Argentina is going than which way the world at large is going. So we now have a lot more to offer than we did in the recent past. So along those lines in terms of rebuilding trust, we've started by doing the profound work on the solid foundations needed to build a true epic journey, I would call it. So this is why we've got out of our default. We have sorted out the exchange market so that people who invest here know they can take their money whenever they choose to do so, being confident that Argentina will continue to grow and that reinvestment will be possible at all times. Also dealing with a central matter which always damages those who have less and something which is really a factor of poverty and of no growth. Inflation, inflation has been put at the center of our action agenda and we've been lowering inflation rates and we need to continue to work until we get to single digit inflation that will protect the wages of workers. But as part of the long-term endeavours, we have also launched the most important infrastructure program in our whole history and the core of that is connecting ourselves, connecting the Argentine peoples. So as part of that exchange based on effective approaches and on tangible approaches, we'll be able to really make the best use of the resources in our countries, which are both physical and virtual. As you pointed out, as part of the technological revolution, if our youth are not connected through the internet, they will not be part of the future and of the conversation regarding the future. And I believe in the context of these changes that we have embarked upon, we have been able to start growing slowly, as you said during your introduction, but the trend has already changed and that in itself is important. And in order to speed up that growth process, we need to ratify the conviction in what we have done and we need to enhance the work and cooperation we have engaged in. We need to enhance instruments that will build up trust so that the return of credit to Argentina, which is helping our companies re-equip and purchase new technologies and also hire new workers, as has been the case for the last seven months, with formal employment growing in Argentina. We want that process to accelerate and also the return of credit for people. As a whole, after over 50 years in Argentina, it is now again possible to buy homes with 30-year loans. And that is quite a revolution. And the same goes for trade opening when it comes to connecting. This will make it possible for this huge country to be effectively interconnected with him and with the world. With Argentines having access to computers at international prices, computers which enable education and an improvement in productivity and in what we're doing. And this is just the beginning. Believe me, you're at the right place at the right time and I hope over the next few days you'll find initiatives to really invest in being part of Argentina's growth and on the region. Now, the region exhibits the same features and potential of Argentina, perhaps not to the same degree because in the region there has been higher growth during the last decade as a result of good terms of trade and growth policies in global trade which have now slowed down a little bit, perhaps. But if we look in depth, I am also very optimistic when looking at the region as a whole because we have a way out not only to the Atlantic and to the Pacific, but also we are one of the most important peace zones in the world which is a central element these days and we also have vast potential led by Argentina in terms of one of the major demands of the future which is food security as well as when it comes to energy security. So I think this integration path that we are embarking on from Mercosur first and which we hope will also extend bridges to the Pacific Alliance, we think this is highly promising. During our last meeting with Brazil, we agreed to unify the terms of exchange and the sanitary and phytosanitary and technological rules in order to really start to deepen integration and we are ready for the third pillar. Certainly the world offers more doubts today than certainties, but Argentina was isolated for many years and it could see that all that brought was more poverty and our youth wants to become integrated, wants to be part of this dynamic world. So we believe that the way to go is intelligent integration into the world and from the Mercosur perspective we are very enthused by seeing new dialogue and negotiations with new countries and blocks around the world and we believe that is the right way to go, we think that's the path to growth and to quicker, faster development because the greatest challenge is not globalization, the greatest challenge is actually the technological leap we are experiencing these days which will continue to surprise us over the course of the next five, ten years and if you want to really shut yourself down and remain isolated from the technological revolution that will be tough and it will only delay the arrival of innovation. We need to be smart in order to be part of the innovation agenda and to understand that we need to prepare our children today at school for jobs that don't even exist today yet and that requires that all of the community sit down around a table to understand how we are going to train our young people for those new college jobs. So thank you once again for visiting us. We hope these will be highly useful days and I will have a conversation with the professor. So thank you once again and welcome once more. Thank you very much Mr. President, you have shown to us how to lay the ground and re-establish trust inside the country but also of the international community. Now when you look at the future, you mentioned the emphasis of inflation infrastructure, what if I go until the end of your mandate, what else would you like to have achieved? What are the big still missing elements in your program which wait for implementation? Well, the first thing professor, the first thing we have committed to as a government and to which I have committed as president myself is poverty reduction. Argentina has been dragging along years of frustration of unkept promises which have really caused a lot of annoyance and what I want today as president is for us to redirect that annoyance and turn it into energy to build a future and for the future no metrics will help us if we don't really achieve a systematic substantial reduction of poverty. We have talked about zero poverty which is a path towards that ideal which we know may take decades but the important thing here is that every day, every year we manage to reduce it more and more and as part of that priority poverty reduction is achieved by creating opportunities, by creating jobs and in order to create jobs as we just said, we need to create an atmosphere of trust, we need to be predictable, believable, we need for the rules of the game to remain stable so that the Argentines themselves and the world will invest and develop new alternatives in terms of creation and on that path a country as ours which was isolated for such a long time really lost the muscle of competitiveness of productivity so I do strongly believe in what we're doing in these dialogue groups with the federal government, the provincial governments, the labour sector, the business sector, all of them there, the workers, business, politicians, setting the rules, the conditions, making shared efforts so whatever we do we do better and this has already succeeded a lot in terms of a key resource for the country which is energy. You know we have one of the largest world reserves of shale gas and we have now launched a virtuous investment cycle which I hope will speed up more and more until we get to over 20 billion dollars a year in a couple of years so that we Argentines have energy in sufficient amounts and at a cheap price so that the industries will be able to add value and create jobs and the same we have achieved for the automobile industry we have millions of dollars of investments announced to produce quality international oriented products and the same thing with the construction industry and we hope to do the same with telecoms and with agriculture on a sector basis because agriculture is already leading a major growth force in Argentina we're among the most competitive in the world in that field so I think the big challenge for Argentina now is to really channel the huge human talent of this country coupled with the natural resources within the framework of competitive labor and work structures and I think we're achieving this even though in days like these you hear more about conflict than about agreement in Argentina you can now see more agreements being reached than ever before in the recent past so we Argentines have come to the realization that the future is up to us and if we work in a coordinated fashion speaking with the truth Argentina will certainly be the highest growth country in the next 20 years Mr. President you emphasize the importance of regional integration when you come from outside the region you're always struck by the multitude of regional arrangements I was very surprised to see that now you so it's not only the Argentinian flex but the Mercosur flex behind I think it was your desk yesterday but how do you see you see development of so small formalistic structures to keep Latin America together well they are professor I also think there has been a change of vision in Brazil first of all Brazil faces a major political and structural discussion to tackle one of the evils that boycott growth in any country which is corruption it is impossible to have a sustainable growth model if it coexists with significant levels of corruption so Brazil is doing something that is foundational and I think out of this process Brazil will emerge a lot stronger which is very good for Argentina as Brazil is our main partner within Mercosur alongside Paraguay and Uruguay and as part of that critical view and vision in Brazil now we see that we used to have a very closed block one of the most closed blocks in the world and that led to frustration and that did not generate the sort of growth that Brazil and the whole region needs so I think everyone has opened up to understand that the first step which is integration within Mercosur followed by another step with this integration with the Pacific Alliance that'll be key and we know that these things are measured over the course of years several years but I hope that in the next decade we'll be able to see Argentina and Latin America integrated with infrastructure interconnecting the different components and sectors of our countries and Argentina will have a lot to contribute in the energy sector with the unconventional energy sources and renewables and the more traditional conventional energy sources and I think that structure promises a lot in terms of growth potential for the coming years we need to firmly believe in this many of us are convinced of this being the case I don't know if you may have heard that we have had the second most important tax regularization scheme in history 115 billion dollars were regularly declared now by Argentines and they will help boost this new development stage in Argentina in the region is Venezuela Venezuela has also in the OS deliberation shown that Latin America still has an ideological split could you say some words how you see how the world could help and of course Latin America could help Venezuela to find a path back to democracy I think you are rubbing it in where it hurts the most for us Latin Americans I think what is now happening also has a positive side after years of euphemisms and evasive statements we are starting to define and describe things as they are we're telling it like it is in Venezuela there is no democracy human rights have been violated there are political detainees for no cause and for the first time in years we have adopted a coherent consistent stance we have suspended Venezuela from Mercosur and we want there to be an electoral schedule that is respected that political prisoners are released and the organization of American states has issued a statement in the same direction the bad thing is that two or three years ago when I spoke on this I was actually still the mayor of the city of Buenos Aires at the time and everyone said that Venezuela couldn't be any worse than it was and a couple of years later Venezuela is slipping down more and more which means that the Venezuelan people is going through a very hard time so in addition to our statements and declarations and conviction we need to stay on top of the matter professor because it's unacceptable for there to be such situations in the 21st century situations like the ones we see in the Republic of Venezuela so let us hope that soon there will be an election calendar and that the Venezuelans may actually elect those who will lead them to the future a future which after such a profound big crisis like the one they've been going through will require a lot of effort for them to you know have new authorities would not mean that the legacy problems which are even greater than the ones we inherited after 12 years that left us quite close to the situation of Venezuela but still Argentina's strength managed to prevent this but the sooner they can choose the sooner the recovery process will begin in our sister nation Venezuela Mr. President I would like you to address specifically first the young generation here and with a message and second the business community what would you like and you explained your policies but what would you like some to do let's start to see business people first what do you expect from the business people here in the country develops when we can all grow and the basis for growth is personal development through work and work can be diverse in social assistance in teaching and in the creation of goods and services and that is where the business community has a fundamental role to play because in Argentina professor for many years we divided things the small business were the good guys and the large business was the bad guys and a country really succeeds when small companies become medium-sized enterprises and when medium-sized enterprise become big companies it's not that if you succeed you're a bad guy that's a first mindset we need to change as part of this cultural change we are undertaking in this country and I hope everyone will understand that that sort of growth will have many more chances if instead of being based on undue benefits or on artificial advantages or on undue improper links between the private and public sector it is based on clear rules of the game and on the stability of rules on having as part of that stability access to long-term credit that will enable you to blend your talent with the financial resources in order to be able to develop your projects and that's exactly what we're doing now in Argentina so that's why we need to believe that this is a virtuous process which clearly is not magic no country has been able to do things in only 15 months every country that has overcome wars for instance took decades to do so and Argentina may not have had something as violent as a war but we have had a level of internal confrontation which was lose lose for everyone no one won as a result of that systematic confrontation this constant attempt to identify culprits for what happened what we need to understand today is that we need to put our potential at the service of building a future and the future is built through joint work between the private and public sectors based on clear rules without improper advantages and I think that Argentina through agribusiness through energy through tourism sustainable mining with international standard industrial sectors with services that have added value plus everything else we can create has I would say endless possibilities of growth the sky is the limit by far I would say we are the country's best place to really take a leap and assume the leadership that the whole world has always expected us to exercise so as I said at the outset I think you're at the right place at the right time listening to you listening to you I'm just reminded that in the age of the fourth industrial revolution it's not anymore the big fish we eat the small fish but it's a fast fish which eats the slow fish and you are becoming a very fast fish as far as I understand now to conclude what is your message to the young generation here because they are our future first of all the fact that no matter how much effort we make those of us who are my age are already quite getting on in years in terms of what we're doing and there are lots of challenges in terms of the innovations we see around the world but for those who are younger this is second nature it comes naturally and in that regard Argentina professor has had very interesting success stories at the last business forum I was with four unicorns as they call them who belong to that generation and who've done international standard stuff and I think that's demonstration of what we can actually do if we have the solid foundations to really support the entrepreneurial world technology clearly shows that large business will be expelling people in the coming years and that the big job generators will be small businesses and that's where we need entrepreneurship to really gather speed this is why we're so happy to have this law on entrepreneurs and law on small and medium-sized enterprises you see we are trying to speed up mechanisms so that the public sector can facilitate instead of obstruct new initiatives and obviously professor all of this needs to be rooted in education that's part of the discussion in this new argentina it's not just about comprehensive smart social policies but the key instrument that affords equal opportunity which is public education and we are conducting a discussion based on a successful experience in the city of Buenos Aires when we innovated the children improved their ability to incorporate knowledge and as our minister says for jobs that do not yet exist that is the greatest challenge we need to teach our children with a completely different open perspective in a world in which often teaching is done the same way it's been done for the last 100 years and that shows that change sometimes arouses fear and as a result of fear people prefer to stick to what they already know and that leads to a culture clash and a clash in terms of the opportunity so there too i need for young entrepreneurs and the community as a whole to join the discussion as to what the educational model for the future of argentina will be and has to reflect this world of innovation in which vehicles will be self-propelled in which artificial intelligence will continue to advance the genetic revolution will continue to bring surprises all are things that will need to create quality jobs and in which the argentines and history has shown this as scientists and as drivers of development can also play a leading role and of course we welcome all those of us joining us on this and who can help us along that road so thank you once again for this great opportunity and i do hope that these meetings will be a true success in terms of the future thank you professor let's talk mr president you just stressed the importance of entrepreneurship i would add the importance of social entrepreneurship and it has become a tradition of our opening sessions in all regions always to conclude honoring and celebrating social entrepreneurship so i might ask hilda schwab to join us on the stage the real boss excellencies ladies and gentlemen and dear friends there is one group as claustrad mentions that has not been mentioned at the beginning uh and we are devoting now the last couple of minutes of this opening session to them the social entrepreneurs with the social entrepreneurship award the schwab foundation wants to recognize and celebrate social innovation inclusiveness and social progress the 25 social entrepreneurs who are participating in this meeting have all been distinguished for their contribution to improve the lives of thousands if not millions of people they are based in all countries throughout latin america working in diverse fields and our pioneers in developing new methods to tackling malnutrition diabetes blood cancer inventing new technologies for people with disabilities for preventive medical care education and research in biodiversity organic agriculture i could go on and on in short they are all working with the primary goal in mind as you mentioned mr president to reduce poverty or eradicate poverty as a final goal there is a lot of talk recently that we must develop new narratives positive narratives the social entrepreneurs have amazing stories to tell and you will hear two of them right now we have the pleasure of awarding two social entrepreneurs for latin america 2017 social inclusion and poverty alleviation remain high on the agenda of the latin american region often social entrepreneurs step in to fill the gaps in service delivery and social programs to low-income communities they do this through their innovative business models in areas such as health digital economy technology and financial services they are vibrant catalysts in the growth of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in latin america at the wake of the force industrial revolution gives me great pleasure to come now to our first awardee carlos berreira co-founder and co of levox please join me on stage levox is a company that creates technologies for people with disabilities it offers a unique software for tablets and smartphones that allows people with challenges to oral communication to communicate and learn levox software interprets the user's movements through intelligent algorithms adapting to each disability users can adapt the content of the application with 25 000 images to choose from with freedom to create new ones they can do also add photos and create icons and descriptions the organization has been awarded several times for technical technological innovation please join me in congratulating carlos berreira i would like now to invite our other social entrepreneur of the year awardee latin america on stage if muri founder and ceo fundacion capital fundacion capital is a pioneer in inclusive finance and economic citizenship they help lift millions of families out of poverty by building long-term assets through financial services and literacy programs fundacion capital does this through innovative and accessible technology they also work with governments and financial institutions to develop policies and services that facilitate transformative social protection and economic opportunities fundacion capital currently works in 12 latin american countries including argentina in two african countries and is now expanding into asia please join me in congratulating if muri for his award thank you to conclude our award ceremony i would like now to ask all the other social entrepreneurs to join us on stage for a group picture


Yes, staying with cricket on the Sports Bank Zone, Caribbean Premier League matches made a return to Kensington Oval this year for the first time since 2019 and Jamaican fans were hopeful that they too would see a return of CPL matches at Sabina Park. But the fixtures did not list the historic ground as a host across five legs. Back in 2019, the last time CPL was contested in Jamaica, CPL reported a substantial economic performance. This is what they said. The Hero Caribbean Premier League has announced that the tournament's economic impact for Jamaica, the 2019 event which took place between September 4 and October 12, created a total economic impact of 17.5 million in the country, a 66.3% increase on the results that were achieved during the 2018 event. In addition to the economic impact figure, the tournament filled 4,300 hotel rooms in Jamaica, an increase of 74.3% on the previous year that was 2018, working closely with the local tourism authority, the CPL also created content that showed why people should visit Jamaica and experience what this culturally diverse country has to offer. Joining us to delve further into the economic benefits that Jamaica from hosting CPL matches are, Jamaica Tally was owner Chris Prasad and CEO Jeff Miller. Gentlemen, it's great to have you on the Sportsmax zone. How are you doing? We're doing fine. Thank you. Yeah, fantastic. So let's start here. Can you give us an idea of your level of disappointment that given the numbers coming out of 2019, the last time the CPL was held in Jamaica and at Sabrina Park, that we've not been able to get the tournament back? The biggest disappointment really, as the defending champions, we don't have the opportunity for the team to play in Jamaica this year. We went to tournament last year and we talked by at least winning the tournament that we were able to gotten the support from the government to return to Jamaica this year. So we're extremely disappointed, not only from a management standpoint, but from a player standpoint, a support staff standpoint and the fans around the Caribbean. Yeah, and Jeff, we have heard you articulate this point in the past. Chris Prasad as a first-time parents here on the Sportsmax zone. Let me get a sense from you about the kind of dialogue you would have had with the government in the past few years that resulted in no agreement for Sabina Park matches. Lance, there's been multiple high-level meetings in Jamaica and outside of Jamaica. And there's been a serial of disappointments. It leads us to believe that there is almost a strategic interest in not supporting cricket in Jamaica. And that has even cemented more considering that we won the tournament without the home-based crowd. Without the fan base that is needed to provide the energy for the boys. And we did not get any support for last year. As a matter of fact, we didn't get any congratulatory messages from anybody. So I'm wondering what would it take to bring games to Jamaica? From where we're sitting, it's easy. We just need support from the government, economic support. We can go into what it will take or what it takes to run a franchise. It's a real business and we've been burning cash in the first four or five years. A business cannot continue running at a loss. So I'm here to answer your questions. I want to get you to explain to our viewers who may not be fully aware of the structure and the sort of partnerships that governments get into with the CPL regarding staging home matches. So what is it then that the St. Kitt's government, the St. Lucia government, the Barbados government, Trinidad government, Guyana government would have partnered financially with the CPL franchises that the Jamaican government isn't doing or hasn't done? Okay, so let's go back a little higher up in how the business is run. A franchise has forced stream of income. You have the central revenue which comes from the broadcast rights and so on from the league. You have gates which if we play there will come. You have the Kitt's sponsorship which is from the shirts and so on and then you have the government support. Now the business model that CPL has for these franchises, the expenses, for example, of the players' salaries and the cricket operation and so on involves forced stream of income in full play. Now for us, the government support is missing and so we tried to operate without your government support, hoping that the government will see the benefits and we couldn't convince them. Now, if we were to continue, we would have to continue at lower cost and that means to play in other venues to join in with the other teams if you will, the cost is lower. To play in Jamaica, it requires more cost for all the cricket operation. It goes with a separate stadium, a separate country. We have a chart that illustrates the benefits economically to Jamaica since the Tarawa started hosting matches in the middle of the last decade and we'd present that to give our viewers an idea of what will clearly show actually an increase in, this is actually the spend investment through to 2019 where it was just over 1.007 million for the first year but then that went up to 1.6 million, set it off a bit at 1.6 again, 1.8 then down to 1.6 and then the last 2019, 2.2 million dollars. That was the eight year period of the Jamaica Tarawa and the CPL and what was invested. But the economic event impact on Jamaica which had the platforms of media value, the economic multiplier, visitor spend, organizer spend shows clearly here from 2014 when the country benefited US 7.5 million, moving up to a high of 11.1 million in 2016 for that period and then to the last year at 17.5 million. When I listen to you talk here, Chris and Jeff Pryor, it leaves you wondering these charts here show an improving financial product from a Jamaican standpoint where the country benefits. So it is a little hard to understand then gentlemen why the Jamaican government not seeing these benefits here or seeing these benefits here would still not get into a deal with the Jamaica Tarawa to have games continue to buy it apart. Jeff, would you take that one? Well, the last economic impact is tremendous and you can see over the eight year period is over $58 million that CPL brings to Jamaica. Barbados was out last year but Barbados got back in this year because they saw the economic benefits and you can see from the games that have Barbados over the past weekend the support. It's not only that but it's also the development of cricket in Jamaica. It brings out the youngsters on 19s, on the 20 trees to see cricket live, to see international players live for guys to come and train with these big international players. So it's not only that economic benefit but it's the growth and the development of cricket in Jamaica and that's one of the things that is missing and the hotel's benefit. So look, we are wondering why the government have not seen the benefits over the years and I'm hoping that the JCA, the corporate Jamaica and the Jamaica government will all get together and try to bring cricket back to Jamaica next year. Yeah, gentlemen in the past the CPL when in Jamaica has been played at Sabina Park. There is a suggestion that maybe if we explored moving matches to let's say in Trelawney which is closer to the tourist areas of the country then maybe the tourist board would become more interested. Has that been explored at all? Yes, that's a discussion that we have to have. The best CPL is set up now is perfect for Trelawney because as you know there is no likes at Trelawney but CPL is have morning games and have evening games. So the situation of playing games at Trelawney is perfect for the situation that develops now with CPL. So yes, we have explored that and that's one of the suggestions that we have made through the Ministry of Sports and the tourist board that unless you utilize Trelawney for the morning games and Kingston Sabina could be held for the evening games. And how is that suggestion being received or how has it been received? Well, okay, we can see that there's no games this year. So for that, that would be the height of what I've transpired by good. We are still in discussions and we hope that there's control around and we will be back to make it next year. Yeah, I just want to get clear specifically on that point as to when those discussions would have started because maybe after you leave this interview we might get a text message to say well those discussions started rather late so it could not be done for this year and we had to start looking at next year. So can you kind of give us a timeline as to when you would have gotten to that stage of the discussions? January, the proposal was submitted to government in January of this year. This month's proposal was submitted including some of the charts that I saw you had on display. So that process started a long time ago. It wasn't two months, three months, but January was when the proposal was submitted and I think in the government in November or December because the proposal was submitted in January. But gentlemen, Jeff is talking about this year but in just about every year, in prior years, Trelawney was always on the table and we would play at Trelawney if the support is there. It was always an option to play some of the games there. I think we had to play five games, two at Trelawney and three at Kingston. But that was discarding in prior years and even this year like Jeff is saying it was presented again and we didn't get the response that is needed to bring the games in Jamaica. Does the reasons, well have the reasons given by the government to why they would not be able to give the support or they have not been able to give the support. Have those reasons been consistent or have you been getting different reasons in different years? I'm hoping that you would help us find the reasons why they're not supporting the Talos or the fans will. So you haven't been given any? Yeah, look we got the reasons from these numbers are not numbers that are believable. To, you know, cricket is not as popular sport in Jamaica as it was, but not officially that is from, you know, people, you know, in the house of government, not to the very high level. The real reason? I don't know. Chris and Jeff, a few years ago, rumours started swirling around about Jamaica losing the Talos franchise to somewhere else, whether Florida or somewhere else in the Caribbean obviously triggered by some of the difficulties that you speak of now. Is that still a possibility? No, after they played the games in 2008 in the Florida, they met with government thereafter and they pledged that all the games would be played in Jamaica and that's where the team is based and that's where all the games would be played. So that commitment was made and we made it in the proposal. Back then, we made it in the proposal 2019-2021 and the last year it was in that proposal again that all of our home games would be played in Jamaica versus the Jamaica Talos. So after 2018, that was off the table. But I'm a little confused here because you said there was a pledge or a commitment. Was that commitment and pledge coming from the government about staging matches in Jamaica and why would they make that commitment if it is that they know that they need your support and to continue playing in Jamaica as business people, it wouldn't be viable for the Talos to continue playing in Jamaica if you're not getting the government support. Well, that was in 2018-2019. We got support but then COVID came in and then things like the economics changed. But the economics changed all to the card game and the other items to continue to see the value that CPL brought to the respective items but Jamaica didn't see that and that's very real. But 2019 is where that engagement came into play. But Lance, Jeff is talking about support in 2019 but the support that came is really a fraction of what is needed to really sustain the games, you know, the operation in a... So Chris, if I'm understanding you correctly, when the Jamaican government supported the team to the extent that they did, are you suggesting that the support was less than the support other territories are getting from their governments? A small fraction, it's a small fraction of what the other territories are giving to the other franchise. Yeah, I want to pick up on a point that I think you mentioned, Chris, and you pointed out that it was unofficial, that it was not coming from official sources but the point about cricket being a dying sport in Jamaica. And try and follow me here because in recent years I can't recall a cry from a track and field organization that has not been met by the government. We've seen cries from netball where the government has stepped in and supported that. We've seen calls from football, the reggae girls, the reggae boys where there has been support. Have you thought that in a situation like this, that maybe the thought process is indeed that the sport of cricket is dying within the country and or is just not close to the top of the priority list at this stage and that is part of why you are not getting the type of commitments that you would like from the government? You know, I think it could be a little of all of the above and if that is so, it is unfortunate because what we are seeing is cricket blossoming in all the other Caribbean territories. In Guyana it is the most popular event of the year. I believe the same is in Trinidad, in St. Lucia, it's the same thing. That is why at the beginning I said there might be a strategic direction that the government wants to take in the way they assign support. But what I want to appeal here is that the support is really not given for anything. The economic impact as of four years ago was $18 million. That is the real economic impact plus there are social and non-tangible benefits that it even brings. So if it is dying, I would like to join with the government and bring it back to life. Look, we have a multi-million dollar stadium in Kingston. We have a multi-million dollar stadium in Sri Lankan. We have a huge fund base because I could see them in social media that are following what is going on here. I believe that the stage is set for the revival of cricket in Jamaica. And we are ready to come but we cannot operate continuously at the last.  If one leg is missing, the stool follows over and that's what we have. What type of money are we talking about quickly because we're almost out of time? Getting into specifics for Jamaica, I can say that in the other territories, the support has been ranging anywhere from 750 to north of a million. And that is the loss which we'll be seeing or even more when we don't play in Jamaica because there are benefits also when you're playing in Jamaica as a home territory. So as it is, to avoid that revenue not being there, we have to cut costs and operate in other territories and sort of get efficiency, you know, scale. All right, we're out of time. Gentlemen, it was a pleasure speaking with you on this issue. Clearly we need to have more discussions on this and hopefully sometime we'll be able to have an in-depth discussion with the Minister of Sports as well, the Honourer of Bolivia, Bamsi Green. Gentlemen, thanks very much. At the track is going to be next.