The Office of Insular Affairs notes in a new report that the growth and diversification of the CNMI economy will ensure its economic sustainability and, in order to achieve that, improving its infrastructure is essential.<\/p>\n
Toward this end, OIA said that it has been working with the CNMI government over the years to support the development of infrastructure and special initiatives.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis investment in infrastructure to support economic growth has proven essential in the efforts of the CNMI to recover after the devastation of [Super] Typhoon Yutu,\u201d states the report, which was submitted to U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources chair Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) last Oct. 1, 2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe goal of achieving greater fiscal self-sufficiency and economic sustainability for the CNMI is dependent on the growth and diversification of its economy,\u201d the report stated.<\/p>\n
Economic growth, the report further noted, is dependent on a modern and well-maintained infrastructure, along with the capacity of local institutions and the workforce to meet and often exceed marketplace requirements.<\/p>\n
\u201cEconomic growth and diversification are a complex and heavy lift for the CNMI, and OIA has consulted with the [U.S.] Department of Commerce on actions it has undertaken to support the CNMI,\u201d the report noted, adding that the Department of Commerce has a broader and deeper range of programs to support economic growth and diversification.<\/p>\n
Technical assistance programs offered by the OIA and DOC to the CNMI government for economic growth and diversification include the Ma\u2019afala Breadfruit Farming Program Initiative, which aims to create a program that will grow and monitor 6,000 breadfruit seedlings across the CNMI, allowing it to be studied in its growing environment through Geographic Positioning Systems and plotting devices.<\/p>\n
The Rota Mayor\u2019s Office received a technical grant to continue the Rota Aquaponics Initiative. Aquaponics creates jobs, food, and possibly an exportable product unique to the CNMI.<\/p>\n
The Department of Public Works received a technical assistance grant to expand the current capabilities of the government-run recycling facility, to include the redemption of aluminum cans and the recycling of rubber tires off-island. Through this grant, four recycling technicians will work primarily on the aluminum redemption side.<\/p>\n
The U.S. Department of the Interior created the report as required under Public Law 115-218 or the NMI U.S. Workforce Act of 2018, which mandated the department to submit a report describing how it assists the CNMI in terms of identifying opportunities for economic growth, providing assistance in recruiting, training, and hiring U.S. workers, and providing other technical assistance.<\/p>\n
U.S. P.L. 115-218 is also the legislation that extended the NMI\u2019s CW program for another 10 years, along with a plethora of additional requirements and renewed restrictions for the CW visa, or the main temporary foreign labor visa in the CNMI.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Office of Insular Affairs notes in a new report that the growth and diversification…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-310146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310146","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=310146"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310146\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=310146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=310146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=310146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}