David van Over, president and CEO of Synergy Power Corp., said in an interview following his presentation in the House of Representatives, that he will look at prospective sites on Saipan for the manufacturing plant.
He said they may use one of the island’s former garment factories.
Since the CNMI is a U.S. commonwealth, his company can label their products “Made in the USA.”
“We are also proposing to sell electricity here and if we can reduce electricity costs in over a period of 20 years that brings benefits to the entire region,” van Over said.
His company, he added, can create jobs for CNMI residents and provide tax revenue to the local government.
Their exports operations, he said, will help reverse the flow of money from the CNMI, which hosts thousands of guest workers.
Van Over said the CNMI is an ideal location for this company’s manufacturing plant due to its proximity to “enormous” markets.
These include the Philippines, Indonesia, South Korea and the island nations of Micronesia and other Pacific areas.
The infrastructure on Saipan, is adequate, he added.
“We see communication infrastructure and shipping ports,” he said.
According to van Over, the island has the needed human resources which they can further develop through the company’s institute that promotes sustainability and technical job skill development.
He said they plan to open a “Synergy Sustainability Institute” on island that will be linked to Northern Marianas College.
The weather here also works to their advantage, he added.
“The CNMI would be perfectly suited as an ideal place to demonstrate our technology which uses lower wind speed and is designed to withstand the strongest typhoon,” he said.
