Palacios Withdraws Free Trade Zone Authority Board Nominees

Gov. Arnold I. Palacios has withdrawn the nomination of six people to the Commonwealth Free Trade Zone Authority board.

The former nominees are Sixto Igisomar, Remedio Mafnas, Pedro Dela Cruz, Joseph Rios, Erick Van Der Maas, and David Burger.

In a May 30, 2025, letter to each nominee, Palacios said, the nomination requires the advice and consent of the Senate. However, since the Senate did not have ample time to act on this nomination, he is withdrawing the nominations.

He informed the nominees that he plans to submit their nominations at a later date.

The Trade Council of the Marianas, who has pushed for the establishment of the board in line with the NMI Free Trade Zone Act of 2000, issued the following statement in response to Marianas Press’ request for comment: “We thank Gov. Palacios for his vigilance in withdrawing the nominees for the Free Trade Zone Authority Board before the nomination termination deadline. Had the nominations been allowed to expire, our understanding is that the nominees would have been ineligible for renomination to the board.” The council added, “We look forward to the resubmission of nominees and urge the Senate to move swiftly to confirm the nominees once they have been nominated a second time. The Free Trade Zone Authority is a powerful tool for economic prosperity for the Commonwealth.”

There is currently just one location designated as a Free Trade Zone. According to the act, it is “twenty hectares of land belonging to the Commonwealth Ports Authority and situated at [the Francisco C. Ada] Saipan International Airport.” The act says “such other areas within each of the senatorial districts of the Commonwealth as may be designated as Free Trade Zones by the Saipan and Northern Islands, Tinian, or Rota legislative delegations, respectively, subject to the concurrence of the Governor.”

The original act noted that desirable businesses for these areas include “production of computer hardware and software, licensing and distribution of intellectual property, computer programming services, database storage and retrieval, financial and trade-related services.”

Businesses would benefit from many tax exemptions in the Free Trade Zone if issued a license by the Free Trade Zone Authority.