U.S.-affiliated islands seek new business at LA conference

DAISY NGUYEN

Associated Press

LOS ANGELES - Leaders of U.S. affiliated islands are looking to airports, universities and even unique uses of volcano ash in a push to diversify their tourism-dependent economies.

Delegates from Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia and other U.S. territories and freely associated states said Friday they struck several deals this week at a business conference sponsored by the U.S. Interior Department.

 
Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton, second from right, greets Greta Morris, U.S. Ambassador to the Marshall Islands, second from left, after Norton's speech at the second annual Department of the Interior Conference in Los Angeles, Friday, Sept. 24, 2004. U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Interior David Cohen, far right, and others look on. Leaders of U.S. trust territories and affiliated islands in the Pacific came to the conference in hope of striking deals to diversify their economies beyondtourism. Fri Sep 24, 4:30 PM ET

AP

Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton, second from right, greets Greta Morris, U.S. Ambassador to the Marshall Islands, second from left, after Norton's speech at the second annual Department of the Interior Conference in Los Angeles, Friday, Sept. 24, 2004. U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Interior David Cohen, far right, and others look on. Leaders of U.S. trust territories and affiliated islands in the Pacific came to the conference in hope of striking deals to diversify their economies beyond tourism.

 
Interior Secretary Gale Norton said the second annual event, which drew about 1,000 people to a downtown Los Angeles hotel, was intended to boost the islands' economies and "ensure that they are wise stewards of the funds that we send them." The islands receive federal grants by agreeing to adhere to certain accountability requirements.

Juan Babauta, governor of the Northern Mariana Islands, was approached by companies interested in developing water desalination plants and privatizing power utilities. A Texas-based university also expressed interest in forming a nursing accreditation program at Northern Marianas College. Such a program would attract students from Asia and the region, he said.

Babauta said he also struck a multimillion-dollar deal with an Arizona investor who wants to buy the islands' volcanic ash for use in mixing cement and other construction purposes.

Guam is relying on U.S. military contracts and the development of retirement communities to help diversify its economy. Officials said it hopes to capitalize on its relative proximity to Asia to be the "launching pad" between Asian countries and the U.S. mainland. Guam's international airport serves as a hub for flights within the Pacific island region.

"Chinese investors looking to reinvest their money could look to us as a safe and close U.S. territory," said Lieutenant Gov. Kaleo Moylan.

Several islands also looked to creating athletic facilities and landing contracts with professional sports organizations. Having athletes train and compete on their turf would be key to attracting "sports tourists," Babauta said.

Norton pitched the islands to investors and business representatives as politically stable, with educated work forces and improving water, sewage, power and telecommunication systems.

"All use U.S. currency," she said. "All are open for business."

Togiola T.A. Tulafono, governor of American Samoa, said the three islands risk shutting down their once-dominant canneries in several years due to stiff foreign competition, and now hope to develop "controlled tourism in a way that wouldn't affect our fragile environment."

However, he emphasized the need to diversify.

"When transportation broke down after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, everything went down," Tulafono said. "These are things you have to deal with when you're on an isolated island. But, you don't want to get caught with everything in one basket."

 

 

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