NEWSLETTER
JANUARY 2007

May I wish all our members a very Prosperous and Successful 2007.

The Executive Board is now in full swing with all the sub committees having met and they are now pursuing their terms of reference so that they all achieve their objectives. The Membership Committee is doing well and membership of the Chamber is moving ever closer to the target of 50 members. The Tax Committee has produced a new set of proposals to be sent to the Governor suggesting areas of reform for the present tax code, and the Tourism Committee is now preparing a strategy for the development of the tourist industry to be presented to government.

 Members of the Government Relations Committee met with the Governor just before Christmas and outlined the Chamber’s proposals for economic development, tax reform, revisions to the current immigration policy and opportunities for tourist infrastructure development. The Governor welcomed the proposals and suggested that regular meetings with himself, senior government officials and the Chamber should be arranged to progress these economic and policy issues. A conference call with the Assistant Secretary in the Department of the Interior, and a meeting with the Senate President were also held to outline the Chamber’s initiatives in progressing new investment and development.

Contact has been made with the President of the Samoa Chamber to reaffirm our wishes for us to work more closely on matters such as immigration and tourism.

We are in the process of joining the Asia Pacific Council of American Chambers of Commerce, an organization which is represented in 19 countries in the Asia Pacific regions. This will broaden our network and hopefully give us access to a wider audience when we are promoting American Samoa as a place to invest and do business.

Our website http://www.amsamoachamber.com is gradually developing and starting to receive quite a number of hits. I would ask all members to use the site and to send in to the Secretary a short profile of your company so that it can be posted on the site.

A general members meeting is to be held on 20 February at Sadie’s in town at 1200 hrs and I look forward to a good attendance.

David Robinson

President