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DOC Director and staff seek prospective investors

Discussions with possible investors in the areas of health care, e-commerce and call centers were included in meetings on the mainland by Commerce Department director Keniseli Lafaele, who was dispatched by Gov. Lolo Matalasi Moliga, as his administration seeks to attract new business and investment to the territory thereby creating new jobs.

 

The governor’s office said in a news release early this month that Lafaele traveled to New Jersey and met with potential business partners and investors on the U.S. mainland who expressed significant interest in several opportunities which would create additional business ventures and employment for American Samoans.

 

Responding to Samoa News inquiries, Lafaele said said yesterday he met in Newark, N.J., with “prospective investors” and this “group is considering opportunities in the health care area, specifically pharmaceutical and US made branding opportunities.”

 

Lafaele attended other meetings in Washington D.C. and included further discussions on business, employment, and training/development opportunities in the health care area — leveraging the Affordable Care Act benefits and other funding sources the territory is entitled to; e-commerce opportunities and call centers; and E-B 5 Immigrant Investor Program for direct foreign investment and job creation.

 

While he attended these meetings, acting Territorial Planner Line’-Noue Kruse participated in the SelectUSA Investment Summit, the first of its kind, which was assembled to connect investors, businesses, and governments within an international platform dedicated to foreign direct investment into America. 

 

U.S. President Barack Obama addressed the gathering where the Secretaries of U.S. Commerce and U.S. State announced their that agencies are now dedicated to working together to showcase the US as the world’s premiere destination for foreign investment, according to a local DOC news release.

 

Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker explained that SelectUSA is designed to complement the activities of the states, which are on the ground and primary drivers of economic development in the US. 

 

Secretary of State John Kerry announced that all US foreign diplomats would also be emissaries to the advancement of economic infusion into the states. 

 

SelectUSA will not only be the point of contact for all foreign investments but also promises to dole out resources and services to the states and territories that will assist increased investments with the national-state alignment, said Pritzker.

 

Lafaele said yesterday the summit afforded DOC “matchmaking opportunities to meet and provide investors with information about why American Samoa is an ideal market to invest in.”

 

He also said Kruse met with Chinese foreign investors, multiple foreign Consulates, SelectUSA officials, and the International Chamber of Commerce to discuss intergovernmental partnerships with states, tribes, and non-profit organizations.

 

The Summit also provided a platform to learn about what other states are doing to retain and sustain industries after the 2008 global downturn and sequestration, the DOC news release said, adding that these shared best practices to attract and sustain foreign direct investment can be modeled in American Samoa.

 

As part of the Lolo’s administration economic development push, Lafaele said DOC deputy director Uili Leauanae is this week attending the United Nations sponsored trade and investment conference in Bangkok, Thailand.

 

This is “furthering our government's effort to network with our counterparts in Asia and the Pacific, to share best practices, and scout for direct foreign investment opportunities,” he said.

 

Lafaele went on to explain DOC also is collaborating with the Economic Development Implementation Plan (EDIP) Task Force to complete the task commissioned to EDIP by the governor to review all economic development studies and plans done in the past along with current efforts, in order to compile a list of actionable development initiatives for implementation starting January 2014.

 

“At the end of this month, EDIP will submit its work to the Governor for his review and consideration,” he said.