At exactly 9:30 a.m., the opening ceremony began with traditional dances, chants and the blowing of the “desbusch” or the conch shell.
CNMI Gov. Benigno R. Fitial then relinquished the summit chairmanship to Palau President Johnson Toribiong.
Following the opening ceremonies and the change of command, each of the chief executives delivered their remarks to the delegates and participants.
The island leaders highlighted the importance of sustaining the regional collaboration that has been established by way of the summit.
Fitial noted the historic meeting of the Micronesian leaders and the Region IX Federal Regional Council in San Francisco late last month.
“For the very first time, our islands were afforded an opportunity to put a face to the many names we have only heard of or seen on communications related to funding, policy and technical assistance. For the members of the FRC, the feeling was very much the same,” said Fitial.
He said the summit provides for a collaborative approach to addressing the needs of the island jurisdictions.
“Our remoteness continues to raise barriers in the very areas that we seek growth and progress: economic development, climate change, renewable energy and adequate health care. As a region, we have all grown familiar with each other’s efforts to seek higher standards for our communities. This is the embodiment of the Micronesian Chief Executives Summit,” he added.
Fitial pointed out that the regional leaders all share the goal of achieving of economic prosperity for all the islands.
“We share two common goals: recovery and prosperity. Our recovery is a process that will be heavily dependent on our cohesive ability to improve our infrastructure. Our prosperity will be an end result to our successes in reinvigorating our economic viability and becoming dynamic contenders in the world’s ever changing market trends. Through the partnerships we already have in place, we all can recover, we all can prosper,” Fitial said.
Following the lunch break, there were power point presentations from the Pacific Workforce Investment Workgroup, the Micronesian Challenge, the Regional Invasive Species Council, the Pacific Islands Regional Recycling Initiative Committee as well as the summit panels on regional energy, health, transportation, tourism.
Other committees that will be presenting their status reports are on water, sanitation, communications as well as the Micronesian Center for a Sustainable Future.
A presentation will also be made on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Fuel tax exemption
Following the committee reports, the chief executives are expected to submit resolutions on the floor to be considered for adoption.
Fitial has already proposed and distributed a draft resolution to the members regarding the liquid fuel tax measure, or Bill 429-30, pending in the Guam Legislature.
Under this legislation, Guam would remove the current tax exemption on fuel that is transshipped to other islands throughout Micronesia.
“My concern regarding Bill 429-30 is its impact on fuel prices to the neighboring island communities. The neighboring islands rely on Guam to serve as a regional center for transshipment activity,” said Fitial.
The governor also noted that any additional costs that are imposed on the use of Guam as a regional center will directly increase the costs of goods in the secondary markets such as the CNMI, Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia and the Marshall Islands.
“Any price increase would significantly harm the competitiveness of the use of Guam as our regional transshipment center,” he added.
While he lauded Guam’s lawmakers for seeking revenue-generating solutions, Fitial is appealing to the leadership to reconsider Bill 429 as it will be detrimental to the neighboring jurisdictions.
He urged his fellow chief executives to review the anticipated impact of the bill and expressed the urgency to adopt a joint resolution to be transmitted to the members of the Guam Legislature.
