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Torres to create new council for private sector
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Posted on Oct 07 2019
Gov. Ralph DLG Torres would soon be “announcing the formulation” of a new council, which he will call the “Governor’s Council of Economic Advisors,” and will consist of some members of the Saipan Chamber of Commerce.
Speaking last Wednesday as the main speaker of the Chamber’s monthly membership meeting at the Seaside Hall of Kanoa Resort, Torres said the creation of the new council recognizes that the success of the private sector is proportional to the success of the CNMI.
“In the coming weeks, I will be announcing the formulation of the Governor’s Council of Economic Advisors, who will be from your [the Chamber’s] ranks and who understand the needs of our private sector,” he said in his speech.
“We now have seen what happens when we turn off the valve on this economy. We are still dealing with the repercussions of the loss of our economy those long weeks of November 2018 when our airport was closed. We must do a better job in ensuring your success so we all can succeed,” he added.
Torres reflected on the troubles that have hounded the CNMI’s private sector, all the way back to mid-2018, when the idea of terminating the CNMI’s foreign worker program happened.
Then last year, when the federal government was looking to end the entry of Chinese nationals through the CNMI-only parole authority, Torres said his office also worked with the Chamber to avert losing nearly half of tourist arrivals during the second 902 consultations in four years.
“…In a time of divisive immigration conversations throughout our nation, we secured our tourism arrivals through discussion, negotiation, and facts,” he said.
Torres further noted other supposed disasters that through the same manner—his office working with the Chamber—were averted, all up to the most recent extension of the CW-1 application period for fiscal year 2020.
