Mayerhauser said the departure of the garment factories and the declining tourism industry are the two major contributors to the decline of local economic growth.
Moyer for his part, said the numbers show the economy here is very dependent on a few industries.
Babauta said the data should help CNMI leaders make good decisions.
Inos, a former finance secretary, said he was anxious to know where the BEA got its data.
Mayerhauser said their source was the CNMI Department of Finance and the local ports authority.
Inos said the CNMI government is also trying its best to collect data and provide people with accurate information.
None of the federal officials wanted to say what can be done to protect the tourism industry here as they are only tasked to provide the data.
But Mayerhauser said based on the data they presented, exports would be the area that the CNMI can focus on.
Babauta noted that his office hosted a forum last year which discussed what the islands could do to improve its economy.
“We will all try to remain optimistic there,” he said. “No doubt it is difficult environment but not only here. But we try to get all the moving parts and pick them together. Local leaders [must] make the right decisions and [adopt] policies that [will create a] friendly environment for capital investment.”
Tourism revenue, the commonwealth’s remaining industry, dropped by 10.6 percent from 2008 to 2009.
“The decrease in exports of goods in 2008 and 2009 reflected the continued decline of the CNMI’s garment manufacturing industry,” the BEA news release said. “The last garment factory closed during the first quarter of 2009. Beginning in 2005, exports of goods, primarily garments, fell in each year; the steepest declines occurred in 2008 and 2009. Exports of goods fell by over 60 percent in 2008 and by over 80 percent in 2009.”
The liberalization of international trade rules starting in 2005 ended the competitive advantage of local factories, several which relocated to countries with cheaper labor costs.
Further contributing to the decline in real exports in 2009, the BEA said, was a significant drop in exports of services, reflecting a decrease in the number of visitors to the islands.
Moreover, the “decrease in real consumer spending in 2008 and 2009 negatively impacted economic growth, most notably in 2009. In 2009, real consumer spending fell by approximately 13 percent after decreasing by less than 1 percent in 2008.”
For more information, go to http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/general/terr/2011/pdf/cnmi_071211.pdf
