Rep. Joseph Reyes, R-Saipan, said NMHC or any of the commercial banks have the expertise to handle home loans.
“Had I not ended my term as chairman of the Fund, I would have led my board to consider the following means of investments in view of potential returns and it is local investment. First, sell all the housing loans to banks or NMHC. Investments in this area can be better handled with people that are experts,” Reyes told the Variety in an e-mail.
The Fund is experiencing high delinquency rate among its home loan borrowers.
Reyes said the Fund should also explore the possibility of investing in the airline industry to help the local tourism industry, the backbone of the CNMI’s economy.
“Explore investment in the airline industry for the CNMI [passenger and cargo]. Destination initially within the Micronesia Region — Guam, Japan, Korea and the Philippines,” said Reyes.
The CNMI’s tourism industry continues to struggle with only two international carriers — Northwest Airlines and Asiana Airlines — serving its main tourism market, Japan.
Japan Airlines, which accounted for nearly half of Japanese tourists visiting the islands every year, pulled out from the Saipan route in late 2005 due to economic reasons.
