By Pacific Island Times News Staff
The Economic Development Administration (EDA) of the Department of Commerce recently awarded Guam $1 million in American Rescue Plan grants to support local economic development planning and recovery efforts, which includes $250,000 for a transshipment survey.
Authored by Vice Speaker Tina Rose Muña Barnes, Public Law 36-23 established the Transshipment Task Force (TSTF) to address supply chain vulnerabilities in a post-Covid era and explore the viability of a transshipment industry in Guam. The EDA grant will be used for a feasibility study regarding the potential for growth in transshipment, manufacturing, assembly, distribution and export business activities in Guam.
“Building a resilient and thriving local economy is paramount to our island’s recovery beyond this pandemic. These American Rescue Plan grants allow our island to build back better than before. We are thankful to EDA for its partnership and ensuring resiliency for Guam,” said Act. Gov. Josh Tenorio.
“Pursuing transshipment not only means capitalizing on Guam’s advantage as a transit point for cargo and diversifying Guam’s economy but it’s also an opportunity to decrease the cost of living for our people. The transshipment survey brings us closer to our goal of becoming an international maritime center, and I am committed to working with Governor Leon Guerrero and the Administration to make sure this becomes a reality,” Muña Barnes said.
Earlier this year, the Office of Insular Affairs awarded $174,900 in Technical Assistance Program grant funding to the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) for and on behalf of American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and Palau.
This guarantees in-state tuition rates for students from the territories and the freely associated states at hundreds of institutes of higher education across the Western region of the United States.
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