‘Japan-US agreement will help us’

To obtain a first-hand look at how the decline in Japanese tourists have affected the local economy, a Department of Commerce delegation swung by the Northern Marianas over the weekend in a visit that they described as “action packed.”

This comes on the heels of a signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the United States and Japan in a bid to bring tourism activity between the two countries back up to pre-9-11 levels.

According to Gov. Juan N. Babauta, that MOU will result in a bilateral agreement on trade and tourism come June or July, to which the Commonwealth has been expressly invited to attend and witness.

Deputy Assistant Secretary Douglas A. Baker, who was the head of the visiting commerce department delegation, said his group is on a return trip from Japan “and we wanted to stop off and see first-hand how the decline in Japanese travel to the United States has affected the local economy in the Northern Marianas. We’re also making a similar stop in Guam on our way back to Washington.”

He explained that tourism travel from Japan to the United States last year fell 20 percent from the 2000 levels, which represents a substantial potential revenue loss that could impact economic development, not only here in the CNMI but also in Guam, Hawaii and within the US mainland as well.

“When we realized shortly after 9-11 how much the Japanese travel to the U.S. has fallen off, U.S. Commerce Secretary Don Evans made some inquiries with the Japanese government and President Bush on his travel to Japan in February had some conversation with the Japanese ministers on this matter,” Baker said.

This resulted soon after in a Japanese delegation visiting New York and Washington D.C., he said, where they had meetings and briefings, which finally evolved into the recently signed MOU.

Although the Commonwealth is not a direct party to the MOU, Baker said the agreement is between the U.S. government and the Japanese government, “so it would inure to the benefit of the 50 states and territories, so it should hopefully benefit Northern Marianas, Guam, and Hawaii.”

This is the first time that the United States had such an agreement with the government of Japan signed by the Secretary of Commerce and the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport for the government of Japan, he added.

The visit arose from an invitation that Washington Rep. Pete A. Tenorio issued to Evans this month. Baker was accompanied during his CNMI trip by Commercial Attaché Steven M. Corless of the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo and Director Helen Marano of the office of Travel and Tourism Industries. They arrived Saturday and left yesterday afternoon.

Babauta described Baker’s visit as a “much welcome” visit by a ranking government official from the U.S. Department of Commerce.

“We have requested that the CNMI be included in future agreements with the Japanese government, especially when it relates to tourism and promoting of commerce and trade,” he said.

The Governor said that, in the next few months, the U.S. and Japanese government are scheduled to sign the first bilateral agreement on trade and tourism “and we have been invited to attend that signing and it will take place in Japan, which will give us an opportunity to be in Japan and be present during the signing and I want to take that opportunity to promote CNMI in Japan.”

Although he conceded that the recently signed MOU is actually meant to promote tourism between Japan and the United States, Babauta said this is also an opportune time for the CNMI “to dip our hand in that agreement in any way that we can to promote our own tourism here.”

Lt. Gov. Diego T. Benavente said the visit also underscores the department’s understanding that tourism promotion is not only for the continental United States but also for the island territories. “It’s a good thing for us, Guam, American Samoa and other American territories.