By: L.N. Reklai
“The fundamental interest of Palau is to look at the long term interest of Palau. We have limited resources, limited number of people, limited land and we need to be sure that as a society are not overwhelmed by inflows of millions of tourists that come to our island,” stated President Remengesau Jr. expressing his reasoning for pushing for high end accommodations and Pristine Paradise Palau brand.
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On the bill to promote “high-end accommodation”, President Remengesau expressed, “This bill is forward looking. We already have accommodations available that can serve budget travelers but it is not in the best interest of the nation to add on to those.”
This second bill President Remengesau Jr. transmitted to the newly inaugurated 10th OEK, is a bill to promote “high-end accommodation”.
This bill will serve two purposes, according to Remengesau. One, it will ensure that any new hotel investments to Palau will meet an internationally recognized rating system that would categorize the establishment as high end. Secondly, it will spread the development outside of the urban areas to Babeldaob and outlying States by providing incentives for investors to gain their money back through tax refunds for building required infrastructures in the outlying areas such as roads, power, sewer and water.
The bill also seeks to coordinate other permitting agencies such as EQPB, Historical and others to work together to promote such investments by following similar guidelines in their permitting process. [/restrict]