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Chinese group scouting for investments
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Posted on Jan 19 1999
A group of Chinese businessmen from Hong Kong will be arriving today to explore investment opportunities in the Northern Marianas, according to Dave M. Sablan, board chairman of the Marianas Visitors Authority.
Sablan has informed Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio that the 21-member delegation of the Asian Chinese Association will stay here until Thursday where they will also meet with local officials and visit the various tourism sites.
The group of visiting businessmen who are involved in plastic manufacturing, trading and pharmaceutical may decide to set up their businesses here when the CNMI’s Free Trade Zone has been established, he added.
MVA has been eyeing to develop Hong Kong as an alternative source of tourists for the CNMI especially at this time when Japan, the island’s main market, has been battling its longest recession since World War II.
Furthermore, MVA is even looking at the possibility of establishing an office in Hong Kong so that it can fully develop the market in the former British territory.
The financially troubled Tinian Dynasty Hotel & Casino is also looking at Hong Kong as a source of its guests but management has been having difficulty to convince airlines provide direct service to Tinian.
Although arrivals from Hong Kong have slowly increased, management of Tinian Dynasty believes that the casino-hotel complex would attract more visitors if West Tinian airport is repaired to accommodate bigger aircraft.
Among the guests include Dr. Tan Siu Lin, Honorary Chair of the International Association of Chinese Traders, Huang Bing Zhau, manager of Hua Wei Pharmaceutical & Chemical Co. Ltd., Chan Tak Choy, chairman of the Hong Kong Federation of Clansmen Associations Ltd. and manager of Wing Shing Plastic Manufacturing Co.
