Distinguished friends, ladies and gentlemen, Aloha! Welcome to the conference on "The Role of Business Associations in Pacific Island Economic Growth." I am Diane Zachary, President & CEO of the Maui Pacific Center. It is a pleasure to see you here today at the start of a three day journey.

In describing that journey, please indulge me while I offer a story.

Three sons left home. Each went out on his own and prospered. Getting back together, they discussed the gifts they were able to give their elderly mother.

The first said: "I built a big house for our mother."

The second said: "I sent her a Mercedes car with a driver."

The third said: "You remember how mom enjoys reading the Bible. Now she can't see very well. So I sent her a remarkable parrot that recites the entire Bible. It took elders in the church 12 years to teach him, he's one of a kind. Mom just has to name the chapter and verse and the parrot recites it."

Soon thereafter, Mom sent out her letters of thanks to her sons....

"Milton," she said to Son #1, "the house you built is so huge. I live only in one room, but I have to clean the whole house."

To Son #2 she said, "Gerald, I am too old to travel. I stay most of the time at home so I rarely use the Mercedes. And that driver is so rude!"

"And my dearest, Donald," she wrote to Son #3, "the chicken was delicious!"

While it is amusing, this little story can be seen as a metaphor for business associations.

Is your association mostly interested in size... getting the most members, having the biggest office, the most staff? Or does it focus on the fancy trappings of an association – such as nice cars for employees, frequent travel, luxurious furnishings?

Or perhaps you have carefully considered the needs of your members and developed what you believed were well-thought out plans to meet those needs, but things don't turn out as you anticipated.

This conference is designed to help you look at the associations you are involved in, how they can become more effective, better serve the needs of their members, and interact more effectively with government.

Conference Overview

Over the next 3 days in this beautiful coastal setting you will have an opportunity to learn, interact with your peers, and share your own ideas. We will meet in plenary sessions, such as this one, and in discussion groups. I urge you to use these sessions to ask questions to gain the information which will be helpful to you.

We will also have occasion to meet informally at the continental breakfast each morning, at lunch each day, and at dinner tonight. Thursday evening we will have a special treat. We will take a bus to the Maui Ocean Center, about 12 miles away, for a visit to our new world-class aquarium and dinner.

Conference Objectives

So what do we hope to accomplish with this conference? On your program you will see a list of conference objectives. In the days ahead we want to:

• Explore the types of associations in the Pacific islands and their role in strengthening and expanding private sector business

• Discuss the services and benefits associations offer their members

• Learn about "best practices" used by successful business associations

• Identify strategies to overcome challenges faced by associations, such as funding, leadership, and membership retention

• Gain strategies to increase consultation and cooperation between government and the business community

• Increase business and social contacts in the Pacific island region

In 1991 Maui Pacific Center presented the first conference for Pacific island states. East-West Center has been a co-sponsor of most of these programs, and we have been grateful for their cooperation and support.

The meeting looked at how culture and traditions are being affected by technology – computers, telecommunications, etc.

In response to island states' desire to develop, in 1992 we explored the effects of culture and land issues on development.

We continued to look at development issues, focusing on communications and population trends in the islands. At the conclusion of this meeting, it was suggested that creation of meaningful jobs was a vital factor in facilitating island development.

And so in 1994 we began a series of four conferences which looked at job creation using a resource abundant throughout much of the Pacific island region – fish, and especially tuna.

These conferences looked at what types of jobs could be created, how to set goals for fisheries development, issues in establishing and building a tuna industry, reforms needed in government in order to support development, and the importance of encouraging growth of the domestic private sector. They also emphasized the value of regional cooperation in furthering growth.

It became clear that it would take collaborative action to achieve and sustain growth. Thus, last year we focused on what actions government and the private sector could take, working cooperatively, to successfully develop island resources.

At a workshop at the 1998 conference we looked at how Chambers of Commerce and other business groups could promote collaborative action. At this workshop it became clear that there is wide disparity in how these groups function and in their effectiveness in collaborating with government.

Therefore, at a meeting of the US-Pacific Islands Joint Commercial Commission in February of this year, I suggested that the JCC might consider how it could assist in strengthening Chambers of Commerce and other business groups. This idea met with a very positive reception from the East-West Center and they kindly agreed to sponsor this conference. I am deeply appreciative of their interest and support.

At this time I would like to thank the other conference sponsors for their belief in the importance of this topic and their desire to see stronger economies in the Pacific. Thanks to the United States Department of Interior, United Nations Development Program, County of Maui, Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, Maui Chamber of Commerce, and Outrigger Hotels and Resorts.

CONCLUSION

Before we begin our program, I have a brief assignment for you. On the table in front of you is a small notebook. I would like to ask you to use this as a personal journal over the next few days. Your first assignment, which I ask that you do right now, is to write down your answers to this question:

I have one other assignment for you. Over the course of the presentations and discussions, you may get an idea of an action to take when you return home. It may be sharing ideas with colleagues, it may be reorganizing your association, it may be setting up regular meetings with members of government. So...

Please use the notebook to record these actions. Be as specific as possible. Your notes might include when you want to take the action, who to involve, strategies, resources needed, etc. The actions will be unique to your own situation and goals. By the end of the conference, I hope the notebook will be well used.

What you write there will be for your eyes only. I suggest you put your name on the notebook to be sure it is not misplaced.

I began today by saying we are going on a journey together. We have a beautiful setting for our journey, with the ocean at our doorstep, and the volcano of Haleakala as the backdrop. I am honored to join you on this trip and look forward to an eventful and informative ride.