Chamber seeks participation in gov’t policy-making

Saipan Chamber of Commerce president Lynn Knight has expressed support for a proposed measure which seeks to forge closer relations between the business community and the CNMI government.

Saying the business sector has always been actively involved in assisting the government develop plans, Ms. Knight hopes that the government leaders would take their advice seriously and use the information for public benefit rather than allowing these plans gather dust on the shelves.

“While we were taking time away from our businesses to support these efforts, the public officials were on the payroll and were not always mindful of the need to be efficient with our time,” she added. Ms. Knight emphasized that businesspeople can give practical advice and help government employees think creatively outside of the box of bureaucracy.

While HB 12-032 aims to establish a policy guideline for a business-government partnership initiative, it does not specifically say how such cooperation will work.

The proposed measure apparently indicates that privatization of government services will be explored by the Department of Commerce and as such, the Chamber expects individual agencies would need to be involved in meaningful discussion of privatization of specialty areas.

Ms. Knight said it is just reasonable that the Department of Commerce will take the lead in developing policies and guidelines and the Commonwealth Development Authority to take a significant role in leading and developing partnership with the private sector.

“In these times of economic hardship, it is absolutely vital that we work together on practical ways we can bring our economy back to good health,” she said.

Many members of the Chamber have participated in various government activities such as the Governor’s Economic Revitalization Task Force, ’99 Visit the Marianas Year Steering Committee, Free Trade Zone Committee, Minimum Wage Review Board, 902 Negotiating Team , Tax Task Force, Overall Economic Development Plan Commission and a committee that was formed to evaluate the possibility of privatizing the Marpi landfill.

“For the most part, we have found these activities meaningful and were encouraged that government leaders have sought our opinions. However, at times, the volunteerism offered by businesspeople has also been somewhat taken for granted and I have heard executives lament that their valuable ideas were not used at all,” she said.