Sept. 10, 2003 – Gov. Charles W. Turnbull and other members of the Virgin Islands delegation are reportedly making the most of contacts established at an investment and development conference this week in Washington, D.C.
The conference, sponsored by the U.S. Department of the Interior's Office of Insular Affairs, was arranged as a forum for officials of four U.S. territories to court investors seeking new business ventures.
On Wednesday, Turnbull had a series of one-on-one meetings with potential investors, making his pitch as to why the Virgin Islands is an attractive place to set up a new venture or to relocate an existing one. Others in the V.I. delegation paved the way for those efforts, one member said, by taking part in a business exposition at the conference site, the JW Marriott Hotel, and by meeting in teams earlier in the week with prospective investors.
Officials and business representatives from Guam, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands also took part in the conference. "We wanted to give each territory a chance to tell its story, because each one has a great story to tell," Interior Secretary Gale Norton said in her keynote address on Monday.
Norton called the conference an unprecedented opportunity for potential investors to meet the people in each territory who can help new businesses take root. She urged investors to seek details about how to advance specific projects of interest to their firms.
In an address on Monday, Turnbull touted the resources awaiting them in the Virgin Islands. The territory, he said, is "well positioned to compete for your business dollars. We have created a business-friendly environment of which we are very proud and we have streamlined the permitting process for major capitol projects that will bring new jobs and investments."
Delegate Donna M. Christensen said she was impressed by the efforts demonstrated by V.I. officials with support from business that already have taken the plunge into territorial commerce. At the expo, she said, "As I walked around, every table that I saw was Virgin Islanders. Carifest was there. Real estate people were there. Renaissance was there. The Department of Tourism was there. We controlled the exhibit area."
Carifest is the long-planned St. Thomas theme park scheduled to be developed on West Indian Co. property near the cruise ship dock. The Renaissance Group acquired and is redeveloping the old St. Croix Alumina property.
Christensen expressed confidence that the groundwork being laid this week in Washington will prove fruitful, but she noted that what happens next is up to decision makers in the private sector.
When investors make their move, she said, it will be important for the V.I. government to respond appropriately. "I think it's very important — it's critical — for the government to provide the right kind of environment for business to … be able to work in a profitable manner," she said. "And government has to run very efficiently."
Interagency group meets
In a release, Christensen said that she and Turnbull attended a meeting in Washington on Wednesday of the Interior Department's Interagency Group on Insular Areas. The meeting was the first convened since the group was re-authorized by President Bush.
Also present were the governors and congressional representatives of the other U.S. territories and officials of the U.S. Commerce, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation and Treasury Departments.
A release received later Wednesday from Interior's Office of Insular Affairs noted that Interior Secretary Gale Norton was present for a portion of the IGIA meeting, held at the Interior Department, and that high-ranking policy officials from the Agriculture, Defense, and State Departments and the Environmental Protection Agency also were present.
It said that David B. Cohen, deputy assistant secretary of Interior, chaired the meeting and that Lynn Scarlatt, assistant secretary of Interior, and Ruben Barrales, deputy assistant to the President and director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, took part.
The governors of Guam, American Samoa and the Northern Marianas also were present, as were the congressional delegates from Guam and American Samoa and the resident representative of the Northern Mariana.
Also in attendance from the Virgin Islands were Lt. Gov. Vargrave Richards and the Legislature's vice president, Sen. Lorraine Berry.
According to Christensen's release, Turnbull said the IGIA and its meetings represent "an important advance in the way the federal government develops policy towards the insular areas." Because many issues critical to the territories involve federal agencies other than the Interior Department, he said, "it is essential to have a coordinating mechanism whereby the territories can be assured that their particular problems and interests can be fairly considered by the federal government."
Turnbull asked that five areas of concern to the Virgin Islands be addressed:
– Extension of the rum tax cover-over rate which is due to expire at the end of this year and permanent extension of the rate so as to avoid the need to seek periodic extensions.
– Enactment of new tax incentives to attract U.S. investment, such as the proposed Section 956, which would allow U.S.-owned or -controlled companies incorporated and doing businesses in any U.S. territories to return profits earned in the territories back to their U.S. shareholders on a 90 percent tax-free basis.
– Technical tax reforms to adjust the impact on the territories of federal programs such as the Earned Income Tax Credit for the working poor, the Child Tax Credit and recent tax cuts, all of which, he said, have placed a fiscal burden on the V.I. government with its "mirror code" status. The Interior release said Turnbull proposed that the federal government share the EITC costs with the territory.
– Removal of the cap on Medicaid assistance to the territories.
– Consideration of the territories in the development of trade policies that have a significant impact on their local economies.
Christensen supported the governor's requests and added some of her own, including a bid for funding and technical assistance to implement "a fully integrated and networked financial management system." Should such a system be put into place, she told federal officials, "the problems you experience with grants would disappear. It is certainly worth the investment. It would enable us to do better planning and prioritizing because we would know what we have and where, and so will you."
The delegate previously has called for the federal government to name an independent chief financial officer for the territory, to oversee fiscal recovery efforts. Turnbull has strongly opposed the idea. Sen. Lorraine Berry has said she will introduce legislation to establish a locally appointed financial control board for the same purpose, and Turnbull also has rejected that idea.
Christensen also called at the IGIA meeting on Wednesday for:
– Adjustment of federal poverty guidelines for the Virgin Islands so as to allow the territory to access more federal funding for children, health care and other needs.
– Establishment of "empowerment zones" in the territories.
– Authorization to use surface transportation funds for construction of access and development roads, and to participate in State Infrastructure Bank programs.
– Consideration of the territory for military installations or their support services.
– Utilization of the Virgin Islands as a bridge to the rest of the Caribbean.
What the other territories want
"The governors addressed a wide variety of topics, but each requested relief from the federal funding caps and local cost-sharing requirements that are applied in the territories to the Medicaid medical program for low-income resi
dents," the Interior release noted.
Gov. Togiola Tulafono of American Samoa sought exemption from restrictions on foreign airlines serving the United States and its territories so that more air transport options will be available for his isolated territory. He also asked for an extension of the tax benefits provided by Section 936 of the Internal Revenue Code, saying they are essential to keep American Samoa's only major private industry, tuna canning, in the territory.
Gov. Felix Camacho of Guam focused on issues relating to Guam's dealings with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, now part of the Department of Homeland Security, in recovery efforts following Typhoons Pongsona and Chata'an. One of his requests was for a waiver of certain insurance requirements in order for more than $16 million in federal assistance to be released to the government of Guam.
Gov. Juan Babauta of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands argued that the Marianas should have a non-voting delegate to Congress, as the other territories and the District of Columbia do. He also asked for federal assistance to ensure Saipan a 24-hour supply of potable ter and to get Transportation Security Agency screeners to the airports in Tinian and Saipan.
The IGIA consists of the heads of each executive branch department and of other federal agencies that the Secretary of the Interior designates, although duties may be delegated to other high-ranking officials. The group is responsible for identifying issues that affect the insular areas and will make recommendations to the President and other appropriate officials regarding those issues.
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