Hafa Adai Members,
The Guam Chamber of Commerce in keeping with its vision of
“Being the catalyst for sustainable economic growth that improves the quality of life in Guam”
has embarked on a mission to identify industries and ideas that can help with Guam’s economic recovery as the island works to rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic.
For a number of years the Guam Chamber of Commerce has recognized that industry diversification is vital to sustaining our local and regional economies in the Marianas and in Micronesia. As fruitful as tourism has been for Guam and our neighboring islands, the fragility of the industry has tested Guam and the Region’s business community over the years through natural disasters and global crises. The ongoing infrastructure buildup and improvements associated with the realignment of U.S. forces to the Marianas Islands has brought enormous investment to Guam and will continue to be a source of essential funding for our government and our people in the form of jobs and related diversification in the demand for services.
The current economic crisis caused by COVID-19 has crippled our visitor industry with almost zero (0) economic activity in the 2nd and perhaps even the 3rd quarter of 2020. Business closures associated with the pandemic have left thousands of our residents unemployed for the unforeseeable future. The uncertainties of this situation reminds us of how vulnerable our current economic model is and how imperative it is that we develop and sustain new industries that will capitalize on our existing strengths and encourage our workforce to seek higher skill-sets.
While we see a gradual return of tourism to our island, the focus of the Chamber's white paper is to look at industries outside of tourism to grow our economic base with the support of our public sector in the hopes of mitigating the vulnerabilities associated with travel restrictions, mandatory lock down measures or business closures.
The objectives of this paper are to:
- Identify potential new industries or ideas;
- Identify and address any barriers;
- Provide a suggested action plan for the implementation of each idea of industry; and,
- Demonstrate the benefit of each industry to our island.
Below are some of the ideas and industries that the group has identified as attainable:
- Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)
- Captive Insurance
- Guam Trust Law
- Relocation of High Wealth Individuals & Business from Asia
- Pharmaceutical manufacturing relocation to US Territories
- Construction, Ship Repair and Labor
- Safe Haven Port
- Satellite Launching
- Silicon Village Initiative
Key to pushing many of the ideas forward is working with our local government to elevate Guam service levels by streamlining our government operations and processes. Further, a commitment from our government partners to work toward these goals collectively will determine how quickly we can attain them.
Onward Together,
Catherine Castro
President
Guam Chamber of Commerce