‘L.A. confab was money well spent’

“For all the criticisms, it was money well spent.”

This was according to Saipan Chamber of Commerce president Alex Sablan, who said the government’s expenses for the 2004 Business Opportunities Conference in Los Angeles were worth it as the CNMI delegation stood out in promoting the islands to potential investors.

There were reports that the CNMI government spent over a hundred thousand dollars on travel alone by government representatives to the two-day conference, which began last Thursday at the Marriott Hotel in downtown L.A.

Sablan, who attended the conference, said the CNMI delegation managed to put the needed expertise to the business table, making appropriate resource persons—including tax personnel—available to respond to investors’ inquiries.

“The governor did a great job,” the Chamber president said.

Gov. Juan N. Babauta led the CNMI delegation in the conference, participating in discussions with potential investors. Sablan also recognized the efforts of Babauta’s special assistant for special projects, Galvin DeLeon Guerrero, who coordinated the event among the CNMI delegation.

Reporting from the conference, Saipan Tribune correspondent Marian Maraya said the CNMI delegation—wearing uniform island shirts limned with the Commonwealth’s signature flower, Plumeria—stood out among participants from the insular areas, including those from American Samoa, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands, and Palau.

Babauta spoke before hundreds of delegates, highlighting the advantages of doing business in the Commonwealth. He cited the security of the U.S. legal system, the stability of the U.S. dollar, the local presence of banks that are FDIC-insured, and the protection of the U.S. military.

The governor also mentioned the absence of federal income taxes, the generous local tax abatement program for new investors, the CNMI’s control of its own immigration, among other advantages.

Sablan commended the Department of the Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs for organizing the conference, which allowed potential investors from the U.S. mainland to sit down and discuss with representatives from the insular territories the possibility of doing business on the islands.

He said time would further prove the worth of the CNMI’s expenses, when actual investments come into the islands.

Acting Gov. Diego T. Benavente earlier said the CNMI had about 50 representatives to the conference, most of whom were from the private sector.

Government representatives to the conference included the CNMI Water Task Force’s Don Smith, who has been working on the purchase of well drilling equipment worth about $800,000, according to Benavente.

Benavente earlier said that the CNMI should pursue investors if it wants to attain economic recovery and eventual growth. He illustrated the government’s allotment of some $2.6 million to boost tourism-marketing efforts for the CNMI when the Babauta administration just assumed office, explaining that the fruit of the investment could now be seen in the increased visitor arrivals to the islands.

He said the CNMI can provide financing and construction opportunities for U.S. investors. For water infrastructure projects alone, Benavente said the CNMI government plans to spend some $1.5 million within a few years.