Chamber president Douglas Brennan in his message to the general membership said that for years, the Chamber has offered commentary and suggestions to the government but more often than not, those words have fallen on deaf ears.
“I do applaud Governor Benigno R. Fitial’s efforts in trying to bring renewable energy resources to the CNMI, that is a start but we need to bring those efforts and other efforts to fruition,” Brennan said.
He said that the Chamber will get more involved in this endeavor in 2012, just like what they did with the prevailing wage work getting done.
Brennan said that U.S. Interior Assistant Secretary for Insular Affairs accurately described the CNMI’s economic forecast as “bleak”.
“We do have a myriad of hurdles facing us,” Brennan said, naming declines in population which translates to a decline in customer and workforce base, declines in tourism which means fewer flights and the primary market (Japan) still recovering from earthquake/tsunami/nuclear disaster, and decline in tax revenue to the CNMI government.
He said that these declines are challenged by the increases in utility rates where the CNMI happens to have the highest in the Pacific region, increases in fuel costs, shipping costs, labor costs and overall cost of living.
Brennan said that finding solutions won’t be easy.
“Faced with the double-digit drops in revenues, the business community has executed a variety of cost cutting measures over the years,” he said.
Cost cutting measures included changing light bulbs to save on energy, reducing business hours, laying off employees, and even closing down businesses entirely because it is no longer profitable.
Brennan said that it is the businesses that get constantly slammed as being evil because they do not want to increase the pay of the workers.
“The fact is that businesses are just trying to survive just now. I do know that there are some businesses that treat their employees poorly but chances are these are the same businesses that under report their earnings to avoid paying their fair share of taxes or simply operate without a business license,” Brennan said.
He enumerated several factors that would entice business persons to invest in a potential location and these includes reliable utilities (electrical, water and waste facilities), streamlined investor processing, favorable tax structure, adequate customer base, adequate and educated workforce, fair and equitable enforcement of laws, fee simple ownership of property, clean environment, convenient air service and reasonable shipping rates.
For more information, please call 233-7150, fax 233-7151.
