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GUAM—The
screaming signs of a busy investment traffic toward
Guam are visible around this small Pacific island. More and more
companies are opening up.
Once a
lethargic island that has been a tourist tropical
getaway, Guam is now emerging as THE investment
destination in
Micronesia.
The
much-ballyhooed $15-billion military relocation plan
that guarantees economic and population growth over the
next seven years is a definite attraction for investors,
most particularly to those engaged in real estate and
construction. For any smart investor, the chance to cash
in on that deal, along with other opportunities that it
has to offer, is too good to pass up.
“We
expect to see about $6 billion to $10 billion in
investments within the decade,” said Tomy Blaz,
administrator of the Guam Economic Development and
Commerce Authority (Gedca). He said the projected
figures are on top of the federal money that the US
Department of Defense will pour into the military
construction projects behind the fence.
During
the congressional field hearing on Guam two months ago,
David Bice, chairman of the Guam Joint Program Office,
disclosed that at least $700 million of the $6 billion
pledged by Tokyo to Washington will be invested by the
defense department in power- and water-service facility
projects.
Gedca
identified seven areas with promising investment
opportunities outside of the military
activity—arbitration and mediation, regional
distribution center, regional recycling center, captive
insurance, professional education and certification,
film video commercials and ancestral lands.
“These
investments are often achieved or accomplished mostly
via joint ventures or partnerships with local investors
to provide opportunities for our local investor to
obtain money to grow their business, operational
management and technical expertise to meet expansion
needs and provide strategic guidance,” said Blaz.
The
military transfer plan, which involves the move of 8,000
Marines and their 10,000 dependents to Guam from
Okinawa, entails the construction of new housing units,
roads, power plants, water-treatment facilities, and new
schools, among others.
The Guam
Contractors Association said construction companies will
need approximately 50,000 construction workers over
three to five years, but Guam’s own work force can only
satisfy about 10 percent to 12 percent of the impending
labor-force demand.
While
government has been pushing for apprenticeship programs
to train the local work force, Blaz said
Guam is under
time pressure. “Due to time constraints placed on Guam
in the case of the military buildup, it will be outside
investment that will bring in the manpower resources,
the capital needed to respond and support the
development needed.”
Gedca
has opened a line of communication with the Philippine
Association of Services Exporters Inc. (Pasei), the
biggest organization of human-resource companies in the
Philippines.
Blaz
said Pasei sends at least 70 percent of the work force
that comes to Guam. Also, Gedca prefers to work with
manpower agencies in the Philippines because most of
them have contracts with US companies and are therefore
familiar with US labor policies and standards.
Guam
companies, he added, also prefer to hire Filipino
workers because of their English-speaking ability and
familiarity with the local culture. “Many Filipinos have
relatives here,” said Blaz, who is of Filipino descent
himself.
The two
biggest shopping malls here, the Agana Shopping Center
and the Micronesia Mall, are owned by Henry Sy and Lucio
Tan, respectively.
A number
of Cabinet members of the government of
Guam—including Lt. Gov. Mike Cruz, the second-ranked territorial
official—are of Filipino descent.
The
Filipino community in Guam account for more than 30
percent of Guam’s population, which is estimated at
170,000.
The
local government has to deal, however, with a lot of
labor and immigration issues that hamper the efforts to
bring foreign workers to Guam. The nationwide quota for
H2 visa is capped at 66,000 annually.
Blaz
said the government is banking on the passage of
congressional bills that would establish a Guam-only
visa waiver program for foreign workers to allow the
island to meet the requirements of the military buildup
and investment growth on island.
The
Philippines itself, Blaz said, is a viable investment
market for
Guam. During the government of Guam-sponsored Business Conference
held in
Manila
in October, Blaz said over a dozen Philippine companies
engaged in construction, manpower services and financing
expressed interest in taking advantage of opportunities
offered by the military buildup.
“The
close cultural and historical ties between
Guam and the
Philippines and their proximity to each are among the
attractions of
Guam to the Philippine investment market,” added Blaz.
Guam and
the Philippines were both colonized by Spain and ceded
to the United States in 1898 through the Treaty of
Paris. |
