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Small NMI delegation to DOI conference
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Posted on Oct 30 2006
A small group of people will comprise the CNMI delegation to the federal government’s upcoming investment conference in Hawaii.
Press secretary Charles P. Reyes Jr. said that the administration would send only five to 10 officials to join business leaders in representing the CNMI at the 2006 Conference on Business Opportunities in the Islands.
The conference, sponsored by the U.S. Department of the Interior, will be held on Nov. 13-14, 2006, at the Waikiki Marriott in Honolulu, Hawaii.
“We will send a much smaller delegation, compared to the group that went in 2003. Cost is an important factor. But we will try to make the most of our limited resources,” Reyes said.
He said the Department of Commerce had prepared a budget of less than $8,000 for a hospitality suite where the CNMI delegation could hold meetings with potential investors, as well as for marketing materials and giveaways.
This budget does not include airfare and hotel accommodation expenses for the participating government officials.
According to the Interior Department, the business opportunities conference will include industry experts and local businesspeople speaking on tourism, tourism and real estate development, infrastructure development, tax incentives, utilities and telecommunications, among other topics.
This conference is the latest in a series of events sponsored by the Department of the Interior aimed at stimulating private sector-led economic development in the U.S.-affiliated insular areas.
The department has hosted two previous conferences and led three Business Opportunities Missions to five island jurisdictions over the last three years.
