The governor congratulated the newly reelected delegate to the U.S. Congress as they shook hands.
Fitial campaigned against Sablan’s re-election.
“For me, it’s genuine,” Sablan said in an interview later, referring to his brief conversation with the governor.
He said election is over and “we need to move forward.”
Fitial said he told Sablan that they will work together.
“That is the most important thing. We are going to work together for the people,” the governor added.
He said his administration will work with Sablan in getting more federal assistance for the CNMI.
The governor at the same time said he was happy to see everybody in the forum working together to come up with good ideas.
The participants included business executives, lawmakers and government officials who put their heads together and listed recommendations that could help the CNMI economy bounce back.
“This is the right thing to do,” Fitial said, referring to the gathering.
Instead of just letting the people sit and listen to presentations, it’s better to get everybody involved in group discussions, he said.
Sablan said he is also looking forward to working with the Fitial administration on economic development issues.
He also expressed hope that he and the governor could “come to terms on the other issues we have differences on.”
Sablan at the same time said he will again ask the federal government to expedite the announcement of the regulations for transition workers and businesses.
“I will continue to pursue that,” he added.
Sablan said his office will see what the governor wants done so he can work with him and the CNMI Legislature.
“We will sit down together and work on different issues,” he added.
Babauta, for his part, said their goal was to bring people together and come up with ideas that could guide Interior, which provides various forms of assistance to the CNMI.
He noted that there was “smorgasbord” of issues raised during the forum.
The forum, according to Interior, aimed to identify and implement policies and programs that would enable the CNMI to make the “transition to a new economy” a smoothly as possible.
This transition, Interior said, “has to occur on the heels of what is already in place in the CNMI.”
It identifies the affiliation with the U.S. and proximity to the “large and dynamic market” in East Asia as among the islands’ principal advantages.
During the group discussions, the development of agriculture as a potential industry, the exploration of renewable energy sources, the transportation of goods in and out of the islands and eco-tourism were among the recommendations.
Former Rep. Tina Sablan said she is very optimistic about the future of the CNMI.
“I would like to say that I’m very confident that if we have all the will and the desire to see these ideas then, they will happen,” she added.
She noted that Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs is mandated by the U.S. Congress to develop technical assistance for the islands.
Senate President Paul A. Manglona, Ind.-Rota, said he appreciates the effort of Interior and Babauta in bringing the government and private sector together.
“It’s just unfortunate that it takes federal officials to bring us together when we should have been doing this ourselves,” he added.
Some of the problems identified during the forum, he added, can be solved by “our own initiatives and actions.”
