ST. LUCIA-AID-Young St. Lucians to benefit from CDB loan.

BRIDGETOWN -- Th Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) says it has signed a US$7.6 million agreement with the St. Lucia government to finance the island's youth economy project through which more than 3000 young people will benefit from business training or financing to start small enterprises.

Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre, noted that young people are the primary agents of change and key to building not only St. Lucia but the wider Caribbean region.

'We already know that our youth possess unmatched levels of innovation and creativity. This initiative will provide them with the resources, training, and mentorship they need to explore that creativity but also to engage in business activities that will ultimately help to reduce youth unemployment and build sustainable livelihoods,' Prime Minister Pierre said.

The loan, which was approved in June, will help to boost the participation and engagement of youths between 15 and 35 years of age in socially inclusive and gender-responsive businesses.

The CDB said 600 young people will be trained in business development, planning, marketing, and business management while an additional 120 youths will receive business mentoring, coaching, and financing.

It said more than 3,000 youngsters between the ages of 18 and 25 will be supported in enterprise activities in agriculture, agro-processing, manufacturing, retail, and the services industries as well as the blue, green, and orange...