Northern Marianas seeks aid from God, Taiwan

Authorities the cash-strapped Northern Mariana Islands have turned to God and Taiwan in their search for economic salvation.

The archipelago, a self-governing US territory in the central Pacific, has been hammered over the past year by sharp downturns in the twin pillars of its economy -- garment manufacturing and tourism.

In an effort to orchestrate a turnaround, new Northern Mariana Islands Governor Benigno Fitial has gone on a fund-raising offensive across Asia to drum up investment. As a back-up, he has also turned to a higher authority.

"I want to greet all the people ... I want all of them to continue to pray so that our economy will improve and their livelihood will also improve," he said in an Easter message released on Friday, a day after he left for Taiwan to meet with prospective investors.

Since being sworn in on Jan. 9, Fitial has traveled to Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and the Philippines searching for foreign investment.

"The governor's mission is to meet with private investors and secure investment commitments," his press secretary Charles Reyes Jr said on Friday.

The financial situation in the Northern Marianas is so dire that Fitial's administration has been forced to slash government employees' wages by 10 percent.

"We simply don't have enough money to maintain the existing payroll liabilities," Reyes said.

Fitial originally invited to Taiwan on an all-expenses paid trip, but he is paying his own way to avoid any confrontation with China and Washington over his visit to Taiwan.

As a US territory, the Northern Marianas has to consult Washington when dealing with foreign countries, but Reyes said that there had been no directive forbidding Fitial from seeing Taiwanese officials.

The Saipan Garment Manufacturers Association said last month its membership shrank from 27 to 10 last year, with more closures expected, while the end of preferential trade rules saw monthly sales fall from US$78.3 million in December 2004 to US$49.4 million dollars in April last year.

Before the WTO rules to liberalize the textile trade came into effect last year, allowing more imports into the US from China and other cheap manufacturers, Saipan-made garment makers had free access into the US and much cheaper labor than their US counterparts. The tourism downturn was accelerated by the decision of Japan Airlines to axe its 14 weekly return flights from last October, with projected tourism revenue plummeting US$70 million over the next five months.