Ladies and Gentlemen, it is a pleasure to address you today, as this forum provides an opportune collaboration in developing and aligning public economic policy with the strategic plans of the private sector- so that the broad national agenda is executed.

Over the past year, the world has been recalibrating and repositioning its efforts following the World Health Organisation declaration in May 2023, ending the COVID-19 global pandemic. Furthermore, the geopolitical tension in the Ukraine-Russia conflict, along with the Israel-Hamas war, have proven that social and economic resiliency is now more than ever necessary to protect global communities, in particular, the vulnerable, the poor, the dispossessed, children and the elderly.