Gov. David M. Apatang opened his pitch at a Pacific investment summit in Hawaii saying that interested investors could “buy an island” in the Northern Marianas.
Speaking at The Pacific Agenda: Investment, Security, and Shared Prosperity Summit last Feb. 24 in Honolulu, Apatang touted the CNMI as open for business and eager to attract outside capital to help revive its struggling economy.
Fresh from Washington, D.C., where he attended a meeting of the Interagency Group on Insular Areas, the governor invited companies to look north of Guam for their next investment.
“We are open for investors. So if you don't know where the Mariana is, we're right next to Guam,” he said. “Come and visit us. We are looking for investors. You come and visit us, and we’ll take care of you.”
At one point, Apatang turned to the CNMI’s Northern Islands to underscore the territory’s potential.
“If you're ready to meet, we have a lot of islands north of Saipan. You can buy an island, you can lease an island,” he said.
Apatang called on Christopher Landau, deputy secretary of state and board chairman of the U.S. International Development Finance Corp., to help the CNMI revisit federal policies he said have hampered development.
“So come on over to the Commonwealth. Mr. Secretary, I just want to say, we also need to take a look at policies—federal policies. There are a lot of policies that were established back then. We need to take a look at them and change them,” he said. “I've been to Washington and just came back from D.C. Lobbying—some of those policies need to be changed.”
He said certain federal regulations have become stumbling blocks in efforts to revive the CNMI’s tourism-driven economy.
“So we can increase our tourism industry in the Commonwealth. That is our lifeline right now. So please take a look at it and help us all in the Commonwealth,” he said.
Hosted by the East-West Center, the summit featured keynote speakers Landau; Solomon Islands Prime Minister and Pacific Islands Forum chair Jeremiah Manele; and Admiral Samuel Paparo, commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. East-West Center President Celeste Connors served as moderator.
The senior-level, invitation-only forum aims to advance viable investment across the Pacific, bringing together Pacific Islands leaders, private sector representatives, and senior U.S. government officials.
Discussions centered on infrastructure, critical minerals and supply chains, the digital economy and telecommunications, energy security, tourism, agriculture and food security, health systems, and banking and financial services.
Organizers said the summit is guided by the principle that lasting economic development and regional security are best achieved through private sector-driven growth, with governments playing an enabling role. The goal is to identify commercially viable projects aligned with U.S. and Pacific national priorities and translate shared objectives into concrete outcomes that promote long-term regional stability and economic progress.
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