Juan B. Tudela, Mayor of Saipan

Your Excellency Mr. Dominique de Villepin, Former Frime Minister of France,

Honorable Mr. Huang Xiaoxiang, Vice Governor of Sichuan Province,

Honorable Mr. Ge Honglin, Mayor of Chengdu City,

Distinguished guests:

Good morning! Please first allow me to extend my gratitude to APCEO, the government of Sichuan Province and the government of Chengdu City for kindly inviting me here.

Saipan is an island in the North Pacific Ocean, 25 marine miles away from Guam and 2 thousand kms from South Korea. It is a small tropical city, a military base of the United States in Asia. Its beautiful ocean scenery has attracted a lot of Chinese tourists coming all the way here. People are exempt from duty in Saipan. 

As a small island in the Pacific, Saipan is of special flavor. You might well ask, why do you take part in this summit? Have you also been affected by globalization? In fact, Saipan has a very special geographic environment, but it lacks unique natural resources, so we have no obvious economic advantages. But our textile industry, started in the 1980s, has been rapidly growing due to our cooperation in various fields.

At the same time, we should cooperate with some emerging economies such as China to complement each other by engaging in economic cooperation. Our government also lays stress on the introduction of advanced technologies so as to reduce our cost of production. Still, our cost is higher than that of China. But we are very excited to have found new target markets. We are really pleased to participate in global competition as textile manufacturers.

At a macrolevel, Saipan has the opportunities to develop its entertainment and leisure industry. For example, in 1999 we developed gambling business, built fancy star hotels and also set up luxurious places of leisure and entertainment, which we believe have greatly boosted our economic growth. In fact, it is a great opportunity for our country if we devote major efforts to developing business and gambling. We should not be isolated, but get integrated into the world instead. We have to improve our basic industries, and put necessary facilities in place so as to make our tourism flourish with each passing day.

Finally, let me say that we have fully realized that tourists from Japan, Korea and China have brought tremendous benefits to Saipan, so we need to develop a concrete plan to promote the prosperity of our tourist market. Therefore, we must pay attention to the tourist groups with a clear aim as well as those potential tourist groups. Do come to Saipan of the United States to visit this beautiful island! Thank you!