CNMI identifies investment prospects

The CNMI has listed 10 priority industry clusters, as it works with local businesses in eyeing prospective investors in the CNMI during the upcoming 2002 Business Opportunities Conference that is being organized by the U.S. Department of the Interior.

The list includes telecommunication-based industries such as call centers; education, which entails the invitation of learning institutions to expand services in the Northern Marianas; and tourism development, such as cruise industry and eco-tourism.

It also includes retirement communities, privatization of public services, transshipment and U.S. Customs pre-clearance, retirement communities, film industry, retirement communities, and gaming.

Galvin Deleon Guerrero, the governor’s special assistant for special projects, bared this before local businessmen during the Saipan Chamber of Commerce’s membership meeting at the AJ’s Restaurant yesterday.

Deleon Guerrero urged local traders to participate in the upcoming conference to be held at the Marriott Hotel in downtown Los Angeles on Sept. 23 to 24. He said the conference would provide local companies the opportunity to partner with U.S.-based firms for possible investments and projects in the Commonwealth.

So far, at least 10 representatives from the private sector have indicated their attendance to the conference. Deleon Guerrero said the CNMI government wants more businessmen to join the confab and possibly strike business deals with American firms.

Deleon Guerrero said the CNMI wants to have “solid agreements” after the conference, as the government sets its eye on the diversification of the CNMI’s economy.

At the conference, Deleon Guerrero said the CNMI would also highlight the advantages of doing business in the CNMI, citing its duty-free status for eligible goods exported to the U.S. and a favorable wage structure.

He said the CNMI provides tax incentives through the issuance of qualifying certificates for major investments, tax rebates, and the security and familiarity with the currency and the American judicial system.

In 2003, the Interior Department also organized a similar conference, which highlighted investment opportunities in the CNMI, Guam, American Samoa, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

This year’s conference would additionally highlight investment opportunities in Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia and the Marshall Islands.

“The islands offer American companies excellent contracting opportunities,” Norton earlier said. “The federal government recently agreed to send $3.5 billion in grants to the Marshall Islands and the FSM alone over the next 20 years.”

“We want to make sure that American firms know about these opportunities so they can win their fair share,” she added.