January10,2011- Jttnusry23.20lI
K a s e n e F a nP
i en e s s
lnformation and
Communication
technologyexpert
team conducts
public consultation
in FSM for l{ational
ICT Plan
FSM I nformution Services
January 6,2011
Pulikin Pohnpei - The Department of
Transportation, Comrnunication and In_
fiastrucfure in p;rtnerships with the ITU
ICII4PAC Projecr and the Secretariat of
the Pacific Comrriunity (SpC), under its
ICT Out Reach Program for the pacific
Region, conductedyisits to all FSM states
liom December 14-21, 2010, to consult
with relevant stakeholderson the country's
proposed Nnlional Inlbrmation and Com_
municationTechnology(ICT) policy plan.
The primary purpose of this consultation
with the statesis to solicit public view.sto
ensure these views are taken into account
in the development and finalization ol,this
proposedNational ICT Policy plan.
Technologiesthrough ICT and its applicatiorrshave changedthe way people all over
the world live, work, learn, deliver healthcare and conduct business. Technologies
not only provide valuable tools, but also
bring accessthat could have negative impacts on our daily lives. lt is tbr these and
many other reasons that the government
must ensure the use of appropriate technologies providing benefits to the people
rnder sound and practical ICT policies.
New CNMI
PalauPresident
Rules'Scarv' R e f e r e n d u m B i l I
For Foreign Toribiongwant the t
fnvestors
Dec.31,2010
(
\
BJ,Jose Sefiase
Mqrianas Variety
F e d e r aI p e r mi t
g o o d o nl y u n t i l
2014
Murinnas Vanerya^
SAIPAN, CNMI Islands - palau's president, Johnson Toribiong signed into law
last Wednesdaythe amendedcasino rcfer^
endurnbill.
I
c
L
tJ
I]
ll
"ln a demosratic society; the people are si
supreme and now they are called uporr to
render the final decision nn this colttrovsr- T
sial issue,"Toribiong said. Lel the people n l
decide."
el,
fo
According to the new larv, the referendum
rvill be held fionr 120to 180 days after the T}
eflbctive date of the Act.
of
SAIPAN, CNMI Islutd't - In rlre Northem
Marianalslands,CommonweallhDevclopmurl
Aullrorily (CDA) Executive Director Manuel
Sablansaysdris is a "scarytinte" Ibr nury ftireigr investu:swho hold a Conrnronwealflrofflre
Nurthenr Mmiana hlands ((NMI) klrg-term
The election comrhission will announce Br
permit because
it is urcertairriftlrey car still cur
the date of the referendum not later than w1
tinue to do businessin the cornrnonwealtlraitsr
90 days prior to rhe date on which it rvill
2014.
be conducted.
TI
"The [fede,r:al]
regulationthat cameout for the
E-2 CNMI investor visal is up to ?014 only.
After ttrat,they have to obtain a federalstafus.
So afterthat rvhat happrens
ttren'?Sablanasked.
There is a big diffenxrcebchvcvn US$50.000
ard half'a million dollas," he adde4 rcfbrring
to the Clommonwealthand fMeral invesftnent
requircrnents.
Sablansaidthe CNMI's sluggishtourism-based
economywill suffermoreifsmall businessens
are
not allowedto staybeyond2014.
"Do ycru think they would inve,stmore wheir
tlrry know that they may lose their statusafte,r
2014?"hea.sked.
aI
Those who arc qualilied to votc but are not
registercd may submit their application to
vote in accordancewith applicablc laws.
Any person who is currently regislered in
Sr
Chuukese
Swimmer
Excelsat
2010Hawaii
StateChamps
PresidentManny Mori definedvery clearly A signifimntnurnherof theseinve.stushave
the ICT Policy Vision as rellectedin the leasehold
irrtmeston lanclsin fre Comnonpolicy plan. FSM requiresnot only safb, wealth,wifrrsbucnmxlikebuildirrgs,
headded.
reliable and affordable telecommunicaBy_Jean
and B1IISalmvich
t
tions,but also equitableaccess{br all the TheU.S.CitizershipandImmigralionServices
(
peoplein the FSM regardless
whetherone alreadyissuedtlre fmal nrle *rat ueatesthe Fifteenyearold Victor Alumbaugh,
who at- l
lives on a remoteouterislandor in the ur- nonimmigrant
investorvisaclassification
in tlre tendsKaiserHighSchoolon Oahu,cornpeted (
ban statecentersofPohnpei, Yap, Chuuk commonwealth
lorownastheE-2CNMI krves- for the Kamehameha
Swim Cllubon Oahu i
or Kosrae. ICT is declaredby the United torVisa
andfinaledin six individualeventsin his age
Nationsasa basichumarrright.
group,in additiontofint andsecondplaces
on
Thisvisaallowsforcigrrlong-tcrminvestors
to lbur relays,af therecentlycompletedHawaii
It is in thisconnection
thattlreMinisters.in- rcmainin the Commonwslthof tre Norftrem StateAge GroupSr,r,imming
Championships
cludingSecretaryliancis Itirnai, attending Marianalslands
*noughDicember2014.Ifthey heldDec.17-20,2011.
the PacificRegionalICT MinisrerialMeet- wantto stay
@ond ftratperjo4tlrcymtst tansiing heldin Tongain JuneZ}l},throughthe tiontotheappropriate
fedrralvisaprogran.
Vctor won the 200m Breastroke
2:30.71sc
TongaDeclaration,
unanimouslysupported
and 200mBackstroke2:15.92sc
fbr his first
the initiative to seek assistance
from re- CNMI long-temrpermitholdenmus petition StateTitles.and was 5th in the 1@mBack
gionalandinternationalorganizations
(like for theE-2Vsa sfirti'ngonJaruzny18,201t.
I :02.51sc.
ITU, SPC,etc...)to assistall thecountries
in theregionto deyeloptheirNationalICT TheE-2visais validfor twoyers, isrenewablg He alsoplacedin the
100Breastl:08.85sc,
;
PolicvPlan.
andisvalidtnly intheCornnrorwealth.
200mIndividualMedley2:16.88sc,and400m
Jolden Johnnyboy,Assistant Secretary
for Communication,FSM Depat'mer,ftof
Transportati
on, Communication
andInfrastructure,is undertakingthe project. He
joined the ITU ICT Expert Teamfor the
states'public consultations,which comprised of Mr:s. Gisa F'uataipurcell, the
Pacific RegionalCoordinatorfor the ITU
ICB4PACProjectthat fundedthe project,
and Mrs. ChristinaHiga fronr the Universt!y_o{Haw-qlL.ry1qqo.
a qar4pgq.
Chinese
twhiiiiansL:ru#T:
i#n,ff1;
wilt visitYapnext ilT$":i1J,i:li":Tff
January2011for purposeofcon-
wggk
YapDepcrtmentof Youthand CfuicAffairc
theMVHapfi':'tr1."'u"rof
According to a communication
received lrom the FSM Depat
ment q{-FlteignAflbirs, the team