The president said this during his remarks during the first presidential forum yesterday.
The president said economic slowdown is gauged by the decrease in the number of business licenses issued this year.Toribiong said tourism arrivals for April compared to April of last year has been down by 20 percent.He also noted that Palau is facing a shortfall of $4 million in local revenue collections.“These indicators must be addressed,” Toribiong said.The president’s forum is aimed at bringing the Medium Term Development Strategy to the leadership and the community. Palau: “Actions for Our Future” is the theme of the forum held at the Ngarachamayong Cultural Center in Koror.Stakeholders from a wide variety of group were invited to the forum in order for them to showcase existing and potential industries which are important to the economic growth of Palau and relevant to the MTDS.In the last administration, assistance from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) was made available to Palau to develop a medium term action plan to implement the National Development Master Plan “2020”.The plan was adopted by the Olbiil era Kelulau (OEK) in 1996.Two forums were held last year to inform the public of progress with preparing the MTDS and to obtain input from the community and the leadership. President Toribiong earlier said that MTDS is a “valuable existing resource to build on rather than spending time and resources to reinvent the wheel.”He added that it is the obligation of the administration to give the public and the leadership a chance to reaffirm support for the MTDS.The president said the forum is held to serve as a venue of a dialogue between the government and the community.“I want to hear what everybody wants to say,” Toribiong said.In his remarks he also promoted the free market dynamics but promoting sales activity and encouraging foreign investment.
