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NMI to ride on coattails of US-Japan accord
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Posted on Apr 23 2002
To ensure that no momentum is lost, Washington Rep. Pete A. Tenorio said he intends to immediately follow up with the U.S. Department of Commerce on the recently signed agreement between the United States and Japan to ensure that the CNMI is not left out in the tourism expansion plans of the department.
Tenorio, who left the Commonwealth yesterday afternoon for Washington D.C., said this will be one of his highest priorities once he arrives at the nation’s capital.
“I will be meeting with Commerce Undersecretary Douglas B. Baker to follow up on the [Tourism Export Expansion] Initiative and try to promote continuing involvement of the Commonwealth,” said Tenorio.
At the same time, Gov. Juan N. Babauta has reportedly proposed for a subsidiary agreement that could be entered into, which would enable the CNMI to take part and benefit from the tourism expansion agreement with Japan.
Tenorio quoted the Governor as saying that this could be one of the several ways that the Commonwealth can avail of the opportunities presented by the U.S.-Japan agreement for increased visitor arrivals.
“We cannot change what’s in the agreement already but definitely, since the agreement is between the United States and Japan and the territories are part of the United States, we are included and it’s up to us and the local government to take the initiative to ensure that we take advantage of the agreement,” Tenorio said.
He added that the U.S. Department of Commerce has invited the Governor’s Office to become one of the participants in the upcoming bilateral meetings that would be conducted in Japan come June or July this year.
Tenorio said he will be returning to the CNMI in May to participate in the upcoming Consuls General Summit Conference.
