Some unasked and unanswered questions

Today let’s do like the “do do bird” and fly backwards for few minutes. The “do do bird” is a bird that always flies backward to see where it has come from rather than look forward to see where it is flying. This bird reminds me of the quote that those of us who do not learn from the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them.

Let’s discuss several unasked and unanswered questions about some of the things we could have done better and why we didn’t in the past. By understanding them, the answers might prevent us from repeating the same mistakes.

I learned a long time ago that in business one has to study the reasons for success and for failure. Both sides are equally important. In this manner we learn what went wrong when we fail and what went right when we succeed. Thus we learn to do better tomorrow what we do well or badly today.

Remember the large Japanese tourist market and large Japanese investment we were enjoying several years back. In 1984, when I first started in the tourist business in Saipan, there were only 150,000 guests. In 1997, that number mushroomed to about 700,000. Almost no Koreans, no Chinese and no Russians, only Japanese.

But why has the Japanese tourist today become almost an engendered group? Has anyone ever done a report to find out why they are deserting our islands or where we went wrong? Can anyone answer why have Japanese investors deserted the CNMI when in the past they were so anxious to invest here? What went sour? Did any agency ever do a thorough study to determine why Japanese investors and ourists have turned their back on us? Does anyone care?

Please don’t tell me that it is not profitable to fly to Saipan or that the Japanese don’t like Saipan. That is too childish an answer. Has anyone prodded for the “real reasons?”

I recall when the Nikko Hotel was being built, there was a big land problem. In fact, the Japanese bluntly told the government at that time that if the land was going to be taken back after they had leased it and already started to built, they would never fly to Saipan. Quickly they were appeased and the hotel was built. From that time on relations became very strained between the Japanese and the government continuing through the development of the La Fiesta. And as we all know, Japan Airlines finally did say goodbye to the CNMI. Did anyone ever try to reconcile the hurt? Was anyone interested to find out how relations could have been improved? Did anyone consider that there would be dire consequences if the hurt were not mended?

And we know the results: the La Fiesta was foolishly bought by our government and never used. In fact the Nikko group even considered leveling La Fiesta because they were so disappointed with our attitude. Now the Nikko Hotel has been bought by UMDA at a ridiculously low price—about half the cost of building it.

Have we forgotten that the Diamond Hotel, Saipan Grand Hotel, the Dai-ichi Hotel—were all Japanese owned. Why did they sell off their investments? Instead of trying to understand and help Japan Airlines, we alienated the investor that was flying the tourists into Saipan to fill the hotels. Didn’t anyone see the pattern or even care what was happening? Didn’t anyone in the government care what was happening and try to reverse the trend? If I were losing customers like that, I would be very concerned.

Recall the Laalao Golf Course which was built by Japan’s largest construction company—Shimizu Construction, the fifth largest constructions firm in the world. I recall the grandiose plans they had for that area. They were going to build condos and other amenities. But what happened? Why did they give up and just sell it off at a great loss?

Recall that Shimizu was the contractor of the Nikko Hotel and a very close business associate of Japan Airlines. Did anyone try to find out why this was happening? Things do not happen in isolation. For every action there is a reaction. The Japanese are a tightly knit group. When one is hurt the others feel it also. The country has often been labeled “Japan Incorporated” because of their interlocking relationship.

Both Japanese parties became disillusioned. We were doing something that they did not like. And we failed to care! Now the golf course has been recently sold to Asiana Airlines for a very cheap price. They plan to develop it into a first class resort and golf course. Are we developing a close working partnership with them, or are we going to act as we did with the Japanese investor?

Currently we are busily courting the Korean and the Chinese tourist markets. Is anyone in the government studying how we are doing in our relationship with them? Is there anybody assigned to the job of working with foreign investors?

Have we forgotten the strong ancestral relationship Japan has had with the islands? In fact some of our people are direct children and descendants of the Japanese who lived here prior to the Second World War. Bill Stewart reminded me recently that this relationship should have been nurtured all along. But he feels, and I agree, it was not but was taken for granted. We have failed to work as partners with the Japanese.

As we encourage the Korean and Chinese tourists to come here, are we considering the age-old relationship between the Japanese, Chinese, and Korean? I lived and worked in Japan for 16 years from 1958 to 1974. As a businessman I learned about the negative feelings the three nations share toward each other. As more and more Chinese and Koreans come to Saipan as tourists, fewer and fewer Japanese will come. As more Korean investors come here, less Japanese will. What are we doing to soothe this negative feeling among these nations?

We have had the Tinian Dynasty Casino here for almost 10 years. Has anyone in the government been assigned to work with them and make sure that they are happy? Does anyone care whether they are successful or not? Why hasn’t the government made a concerted effort to construction a decent airport facility so that planes could fly to Tinian directly? After 10 years and no action? Weren’t promises and assurances made? Instead the casino has had to spent millions of dollars ferrying customers back and forth from Saipan to Tinian. It has also had to buy small aircraft to fly its customers back and forth. Is this being investor friendly? Don’t you think other investors are watching this scenario?

We had better begin asking all the unasked and answering the unanswered questions. I can go on and discuss why no one has actively pursued the reason other industries shy away from us, but to what avail? Until we realize that business is competitive and requires a close working relationship between the government and the investor, investors will never flock here regardless of incentives.

A business relationship will only succeed when the parties understand and respect each other. Business is founded on mutual trust. It consists of people working with people. All successful businesses are founded on human trust. The product or service they sell is only secondary. Unfortunately this is not the normal thing here. We seek investors, yet we mistrust them. Too often we begrudge the returns they make on their investments, forgetting the risk they take. Why do we act like this?

I might add that this is the main reason we haven’t been able to find a decent savior for the CUC power plant. For some strange reason we distrust all interested parties. We even distrust the United States who, then in turn, distrusts us.

After we have burned off the Japanese, the Koreans, the Chinese, the Russians, the United States, who is left? At times I just want to throw my hands up in the air and scream. We must start asking the unasked questions and answer the unanswered questions, or we are doomed to repeat the mistakes made in the past. Look out! The “do do bird” is right overhead.