A pleasant good morning to one and all.  Today I am delighted to have this occasion to deliver to the Territory’s youth additional opportunities provided by their government for their personal and professional advancement.  

Ladies and gentlemen of the media!  Good afternoon! 

Your Excellency, Ministers, Members of the House of Assembly, Deputy Governor, Members of the Financial Services Industry, Ladies and Gentlemen- Good Evening.

It is my great pleasure to formally introduce you to the new BVI Finance brand and share some of the plans for the new organisation that will also bear the same name.

From day one, I have always promised that this Government would push the pendulum of this Territory in the direction of progress, growth and advancement.

Greetings and acknowledgements of Ministers, Ministry staff, BVIEC Board Members and staff, Wartsila, Delta, financiers past and present, media.....

Virgin Islanders, ladies and gentlemen, as your Governor I wanted to speak to you today about an important issue.

But before doing so, I also wanted to mention that as many of you will know; last week I had an audience with Her Majesty the Queen at Buckingham Palace. Her Majesty was pleased to receive the gift of salt from Salt Island prepared by Calvin “Jandy” Smith and Lethelma Thomas. Her Majesty takes a keen interest in all her Overseas Territories and it was an opportunity to recall the Islanders’ willingness to help others that so impressed Queen Victoria, a tradition that continues today through the many Virgin Islands groups such as the Rotary Clubs, Lions, Family Support Network, Visar and many others.

Madame Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to share with this Honourable House an update on our scholarships for students who are differently-abled. Madame Speaker in March 2014, I informed this Honourable House of an initiative of the Ministry of Education to offer two scholarships per year to assist students with special needs to seek secondary education outside the Territory.

Thank you Madame Speaker for giving me the opportunity to make a brief statement on ongoing works to refurbish a number of recreational facilities in the Territory. As a Ministry Madame Speaker we recognize the importance of having the right social environment for the youth of the Territory. 

Madame Speaker, I am pleased to introduce to this Honourable House the Ministry of Education and Culture’s (MEC) Apprenticeship Programme - another initiative to help our young people find employment. As you are aware the Ministry of Education and Culture has made the employment of youth a top priority since 2012 when the Youth Employment Services (YES) was established.

Madam Speaker, during the last sitting of this Honourable House, I provided a comprehensive update, on the Government’s plans, to improve the quality of the road network throughout the Territory.

It is quite evident and I am pleased to report, Madam Speaker, that, significant progress has been made since then, as we continue to design and execute works, on Tortola, Anegada, Virgin Gorda and Jost Van Dyke.