Fitial: Strengthen existing CNMI industries

With signs of new types of investment remain far from sight, the CNMI government is left without immediate choice but to retain and strengthen existing industries which have grown to be the islands’ economic lifeline.

House Speaker Ben Fitial said economic problems faced by the Commonwealth could have been worse sans the resilience of the garment manufacturing sector while the Asian currency crisis was crushing the islands’ tourism industry.

Mr. Fitial mentioned a report prepared by the U.S. General Accounting Office which bared that 85 percent of the CNMI’s economic activity and 96 percent of its exports come from tourism and apparel manufacturing industries.

GAO stressed that the two largest industries in the Northern Marianas contribute to the development of other businesses while allowing growth in the Commonwealth government’s budget.

As the local economy reels from the adverse effects of the Asian recession with tourism still in a slump, Mr. Fitial noted the need to stimulate the sector by bringing in more tourists by encouraging its expansion, both in terms of market and infrastructure.

For one, Northern Marianas has been in a disadvantaged position due to the limited number of air transportation providers servicing the islands, aggravated by Continental Micronesia’s decision to pullout direct international flights between Asia and Saipan.

“We need more and better air connections to our biggest markets,” he told members of the Rotary Club of Saipan during the organization’s regular Tuesday meeting at the Hyatt Regency.

The House Speaker underscored the urgency to weed out restrictive and protectionist legislative measures that continue to discourage entry of new investments into the islands while drawing new incentives and beefing up enforcement of existing laws.

He laid out two options which the CNMI government and the business community can choose from — implement additional legislative restrictions to satisfy the federal government or asset that the Commonwealth continue to fight harmful federal legislation.

Mr. Fitial also took the chance to find fault with Washington Rep. Juan N. Babauta’s handling of the Clinton Administration’s attempts to federalize local immigration and minimum wage control.

“[The second choice] does not propose to leave this task [fighting federal takeover] to the Resident Representative whose heart isn’t up to the fight,” he said, referring to the fact that Mr. Babauta was on Saipan when the U.S. Senate voted for the federal takeover legislation sponsored by Sen. Frank Murkowski of Alaska.

Mr. Fitial echoes the sentiment raised by Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio on the need for effective lobbying presence in Washington D.C. to safeguard the Commonwealth’s social and economic interests.

“I feel if we won’t fight for ourselves, no one else will do it for us. I also think we can find the proper lobbying tools. The GAO report is an excellent response to much of the misinformation found in the Cohen report and in past interior department studies,” he added.

He said the CNMI must continue pursuing more ways to restore and expand the local economy even if it is able to thwart efforts by Washington that will eradicate local decision-making.