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Symposium on Foreign Investment Laws and Regulations held in Palikir

Palikir, Pohnpei (FSM Information Services): May 1, 2009 - This week at the Central Facilities in Palikir, Pohnpei, a symposium on foreign investment laws and regulations is being held and representatives from each of the four FSM states and the national government are in attendance.

The symposium opened on Tuesday, April 28^th with opening remarks given by President Manny Mori. In his remarks, President Mori told the group that "this symposium stands as an opportunity to devise strategies and approaches and to harmonize our investment regulatory regime to be more transparent and aggressive in terms of facilitating investments that could contribute to FSM economic growth in creating jobs, and increase opportunities for business development." He further stated that, "Following recommendations from international partners, efforts have been made during the last decade to reform our investment laws and regulations. Can you imagine, it has been more than ten years we've had these reform efforts and I hope today we will be more successful than the last efforts."

President Mori invited participants to give their thoughts and inputs on the following key areas of the existing investment regime: (1) the reserved activities that fall under the Red list (which are activities that are either prohibited to foreign investors to invest in or are reserved only for local

investors), (2) conditions to start business in economic sectors listed in the Amber list (which are investment activities that are open to foreign investors with certain requirements to be complied with), (3) investment permit requirements, (4) rights and obligations of investors, and (5) dispute settlement mechanisms.

The symposium will continue through the week and have sessions on the following topics; a review of foreign investment laws and regulations applicable in the FSM, a presentation on the trend of foreign investments in FSM, a session with foreign investors and NGOs, a session with international partners, a session on investment-related issues, a session on the latest developments in trade negotiations, a session with Mr. Don Jacobson from the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, and recommendations on the way forward.

The symposium is being hosted by the FSM Department of Resources and Development and outcomes from this meeting will be presented at the upcoming State-National Leadership Conference that will be held on May 12^th-15^th, 2009 which will bring together the executive and legislative leaders from all four states and the national government.