Confab enhances CNMI-Indonesia relations

The ongoing conference among environmental officials from Pacific flag territories and the federal government provided an opportunity to enhance the CNMI’s bilateral relations with Indonesia, which sent delegates to attend the conference.

Indonesian representatives have met with ranking CNMI officials, including Gov. Juan N. Babauta. So far, discussions dealt with cooperation not only on environmental concerns but also on tourism.

The governor’s senior policy adviser, Robert Schwalbach, said Babauta would again meet with the Indonesian delegation this week. He could not say yet whether the discussions would include future cooperation on an anti-terrorism campaign.

Indonesia, a predominantly Muslim country with a population of over 200 million, has been targeted by terrorist attacks. The bombing of tourist destination Bali in late 2002 killed scores of people.

Seven representatives from Indonesia attended the 2004 All Islands Coastal Zone Management Conference at the Pacific Islands Club, which began Monday. Alex Retraubun, Indonesia’s Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries’ Small Island director, leads the delegation.

Joudy Ruddy Rizal Sangari, the head of Coastal Resources and Management on Integrated Coastal Resources Management Board of North Sulawesi in Indonesia, said his group wants to collaborate with the CNMI’s coastal resources management.

He said the delegation attended the meeting to learn about the approach of the U.S. and its island territories on coastal resources management.

He said the group would also attend the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Pacific Islands conference beginning today at the Dai-Ichi Hotel Saipan Beach.

Learning from the CNMI’s experience would be valuable to North Sulawesi, an island province in the Asian country, as it is still in the early stages of establishing a coastal resources management program.

“The main thing that I learned is how to empower all sectors involved, [including] government and private,” Sangari said, noting collaborative efforts among the Pacific territories and federal agencies that include the EPA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Coastal Resources Management Office deputy director Steve Tilley welcomed Indonesia’s desire for partnership, saying the CNMI could also learn from the Asian country’s experience.

Sangari also disclosed that the other delegates visited Rota yesterday to look at the island’s ecotourism sites, underscoring the link between environmental protection and tourism.

“They want to develop ecotourism in North Sulawesi,” he said.

The Indonesian group earlier met with Marianas Visitors Authority chairman David Sablan.

The Indonesian delegation includes Tourism professor Bet El Silisna Lagarense, Bureau of Planning and Development director Alexander Johnnes Wowor, Bureau of Planning and Development of Bitung City Theodore Vanny Lumingkewas, Office of Environment Management of Manado City’s Boyke Ferry, Coastal Resources Management official Stacey Tighe, Retraubun and Sangari.