The symposium opened on Tuesday with opening remarks given by Federated States of Micronesia President Emanuel Mori.
He told the group that “this symposium…stands as an opportunity to devise strategies and approaches and to harmonize our investment regulatory regime to be more transparent and aggressive in terms of facilitating investments that could contribute to FSM economic growth in creating jobs, and increase opportunities for business development.”
He said “following recommendations from international partners, efforts have been made during the last decade to reform our investment laws and regulations. Can you imagine, it has been more than 10 years we’ve had these reform efforts and I hope today we will be more successful than the last efforts.”
Mori invited participants to give their thoughts and inputs on the following key areas of the existing investment regime: (1) the reserved activities that fall under the red list (which are activities that are either prohibited to foreign investors to invest in or are reserved only for local investors), (2) conditions to start business in economic sectors on the Amber list (which are investment activities that are open to foreign investors with certain requirements to be complied with), (3) investment permit requirements, (4) rights and obligations of investors, and (5) dispute settlement mechanisms.
The symposium reviewed foreign investment laws and regulations applicable in the FSM, and heard a presentation on the trend of foreign investments in the federation.
There was also a session with foreign investors and NGOs, international partners as well as with Don Jacobson from the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat.
There were discussions on investment-related issues, the latest developments in trade negotiations and recommendations on the way forward.
The symposium was hosted by the FSM Department of Resources and Development and outcomes from this meeting will be presented at the state-national leadership conference that will be held on May 12-15, which will bring together the executive and legislative leaders from all four states and the national government.
