By Emmanuel T. Erediano
Variety News Staff

TWELVE investments including five “big” projects are expected to come in this year, according to the Department of Public Lands’ real estate division.
DPL lease permit specialist Rachel M. Roque also disclosed that they have shortened the list of requirement to make it more practical for the investors to do business in the CNMI.
But she says that basic rules will still be followed.
She did not disclose the identities of the new investors, but Roque said they include a proposed resort project in Marpi with an initial investment.
She said the South Korean investor is still in the process of securing DPL requirements for the project which involves a golf course, hotel and other leisure facilities.
Another project in Marpi has something to do with tourism, Roque said.
The U.S. investor, she added, promised an initial investment of $1.5 million, and DPL and other concerned government agencies are now conducting an environmental assessment at the site.
Another U.S. investment is a $10 million project that requires three different sites, Roque said.
She said the investors are in the process of negotiating for a prospective site in Lower Base. The two other sites for the project will be in Puerto Rico and Agingan, she added.
An Asian investor, she said, wants to build a new hotel with 500 rooms north of the Pacific Islands Club with an initial investment of $100 million.
She said the investor is now turning in documents for DPL’s review.
Among the five big investments is a commercial establishment for food manufacturing near Ladder Beach proposed by a local investor with an initial investment of $906,000, Roque said.
She said other projects involve the expansion of existing businesses. Some investors she said, want to lease more property.