Public attends forum on development strategy

The forum was attended by people from all walks of life who wants to know the status of  Palau in terms of economic and social development and the state of its natural resources.The main goal of the forum was to present to the public different progress reports on various works and programs about agriculture, fisheries, health, tourism, infrastructures, environment, education and economic policies.Dr. John Fallon was the first presenter who reported about achieving higher standards of living, goals, priorities, binding constraints and key policies.Dr. Fallon presented various issues and strategies and recommendations to address these problems.Among the things he discussed was the conflict of interest that according to him was one of the binding constraints in designing effective governance.Fallon also discussed achieving a consensus for change, how to respond to recent oil and food price increases, tourism and the importance of foreign investments to Palau.The audience expressed different reactions about Dr. Fallon’s report.Some of them praised the report but bluntly objected to the idea of putting investments in Palau.But there was also a woman who stood up and bravely admitted that she welcome the idea of change. The woman said it is time for Palau to be more open-minded and to consider other options like opening a door for investors to improve the economy of Palau.The other presenters were Darin De Leon, PVA Managing Director who presented a report on tourism strategies and actions, Steve Lindsay on Aquaculture and fisheries, Director Fred Sengebau on agriculture strategies and actions, Don Townsend on infrastructure strategies, Jean Williams on environment, Director Emery Wenty on financing education, Minister Victor Yano on financing health and Director of Bureau of Public Health, Dr. Stevenson Kuartei.