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American Samoa will get investment in garment manufacturing
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Posted on Feb 01 1999
As the Northern Marianas fights to keep what is now its lead industry in the islands in what attorneys and economists call “frivolous” lawsuits, American Samoa will get fresh infusion of investment and 300 jobs when a US investor opens up a garment factory sometime in March, according to the Samoa Post.
The “only hold up in the negotiations between the two sides is finalizing the legal paperwork between the government and the now closed BCTC-Samoa garment factory, for the sale of factory equipment and dormitories that the new company plans to use,” the Samoa Post reports.
“When BCTC closed, it agreed to sell its equipment and dormitories to the government for $1.2 million. The government was supposed to make a down payment within the first six months of the agreement and pay off the balance in a year”.
The California company whose identity was not disclosed intends to employ 300 locals, but, like BCTC, will initially employ 150 Chinese workers to man the factory until the local workers can take over full production, the Samoa Post said.
The NMI garment industry is estimated to be a $1.2 billion sector that has taken over the lead in economic activities when tourism went from bustle to bust. The unrelenting assault of the Asian crisis brought it to its knees. Visitor arrivals plunged by more than 30 percent, hotel occupancy also took a nose dive as well, including reduction in daily flights from major cities in Japan and the region.
Local leadership has acknowledged that the financially strapped NMI government can’t do without the aid of the local garment industry which provides over 3,000 jobs in both sectors. It has generously hired government retirees as mmanagers and has equally provided job opportunities for other locals.
