NMI, Indon agency agree to widen areas of cooperation

The Commonwealth and Indonesian government agency agreed Friday to provide liaison and coordination at least through the end of 2005 in hopes to develop the relationship of the two countries.

In a brief ceremony yesterday, Gov. Juan N. Babauta, North Sulawesi Planning Bureau head Alex J. Wowor, and Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries Small Island Development director Alex S.W. Retraubun signed the Memorandum of Understanding between the CNMI and the Republic of Indonesia’s Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries Province of North Sulawesi that underscored five points.

The two agreed to create a special friendship relating to economic development of small islands and the environmental management of coastal areas and nature-based tourism; to exchange information between the CNMI and the Republic of Indonesia related to waste management, encouragement of economic investment, development and other matters of mutual interest.

Also, the two agreed to exchange information between the CNMI and SULUT related to nature or coast-based tourism, development of tourism around natural and historic sites; development of state coastal resources management and environmental protection programs; establishment and management of marine protected areas; and examples of coordination between the legislative and the executive branches of government.

The agreement also stressed the need to explore various ways to share information and experiences, such as study tours, joint trainings, and conferences and to establish points of contact within each jurisdiction to provide coordination in carrying out the activities at least through the end of 2005 in hopes that the new friendship can develop naturally through joint experiences and mutual efforts.

The Friday agreement states that both the CNMI and the RoI have similar tropical ecosystem, geologic histories, and oceanic settings, and share a cultural heritage.

Also, the MOU said the CNMI, RoI, and SULUT are interested in cooperating to enhance their economic development, tourism, and coastal environmental quality and are interested in developing sustainable island tourism as a primary form of economic development.

“We learn how the CNMI develops the islands here,” Retraubun said. “We have so many islands much better than Bali.”

Retraubun and six other Indonesian delegates visited the CNMI to attend two major conferences involving U.S.-affiliated Pacific islands: the 2004 All Islands Coastal Zone Management sponsored by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Pacific Islands Environment Conference sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.