Previous Story
Crisis gives birth to more resilient businesses
|
Posted on Jan 03 2001
Businesses that survived the worst-ever economic crisis to hit the CNMI in recent years are expected to become more resilient, which will become a lot more evident as the Commonwealth starts recovering from the financial upheavals this year.
Commonwealth Development Authority Board Chair John S. Tenorio said entrepreneurs tend to be more cautious after a crisis due to fears of financial instability and even foreclosures.
Mr. Tenorio said the economic turmoil which struck the Asia-Pacific Region beginning July 1997 has made investors realized that there is a need to get their respective fiscal house in order. Experts have said the Asian crisis stemmed from mismanagement and fiscal excess.
“Individual economics would change because of the crisis. Definitely, it will make businesses stronger and a little bit more cautious. Indeed, hard lessons were learned from the recession,” he said.
This, even as business analysts said recovery from the economic downturn would take longer since several areas need a major fix although they mentioned positive signs like the economic revitalization program launched by the administration of Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio.
The government’s plan to establish free trade economic zones in the CNMI, several infrastructure developments that include road improvement and the slight increase in the number of tourists coming in compared with previous years are also good indications for the year ahead.
Projections for the CNMI appear to be more fruitful this year due to the significant recovery in the economies of major Asian countries like the stabilization of the respective currencies of Japan and Korea which is expected to give visitors from these nations more buying power. (Aldwin R. Fajardo)
