October 20th, 2010

Keynote Address of the Honorable Anthony M. Babauta
Assistant Secretary of the Department of the Interior for Insular Areas
Conference on Micronesian Empowerment, Guam
October 20, 2010

Good afternoon and thank you for being a part of this conference. I am truly energized by this very diverse group gathered here today.  All of you comprise a unique group of proactive stakeholders who are investing and committing to ensure that the forthcoming build up occurs in an intelligent manner, maximizing resources and opportunities so that this region is further bolstered and economic development is realized and sustained.  I've long been saying that a conference of this magnitude, given what has been known over the last four years about the impending changes Guam and the region as whole will face with this military realignment, has been long over due.  So today, I genuinely welcome the opportunity to make a few remarks, sentiments that are likely shared by many of you on what our collective hopes and aspirations for the region are. I want to commend the organizers of this event for all of their great work and initiative - but most importantly for their vision for the people of Micronesia and that progressive understanding that it is incumbent upon us as individuals, as stakeholders to self identify and determine what the conditions and what the outcome of our future will be.

It is has been said that the best time to do something worthwhile is between yesterday and tomorrow, meaning now and that is today. This conference comes as a follow up to the discussions that were held in San Diego where the community recognized the impetus and need for action. This second round is really a timely opportunity to dialogue more deeply, to understand where we are as a region, what our capacity is, what still needs to be done and what direction we ultimately want to go in. This is about seizing the opportunities of now, capitalizing on the interest this region has garnered and developing a coordinated effort that emphasizes a plan of action where the region's needs are responded to and met.  So today, while you will share information, identify workforce capacity, and expound on promising initiatives – like the work of the Guam Trades Academy which is already well underway-- what occurs at the conclusion of today, when you return home, armed with your new relationships and inspired by a plan or a new vision – what you do with that new knowledge will be the principal driver and determinant in how successful and how fruitful we will become in the months and years ahead.

I enjoy studying and finding trends – be it in business, politics, or my personal life. As many are aware most historical events, circumstances and general human experiences can be contextualized by specific trends. Sometimes the trend is a salient one, other times it is not as evidenced; nonetheless, a trend, more often than not, whatever the circumstance may be, exists. If you study the history of the island of Guam, almost instantaneously you realize a trend.   It is not anything that is based on sound scientific research, it is likely just a general human trend, that can be transplanted to any other island, continent, culture, people,-- and that is a history in which the actors are largely reactive. If you run chronologically through our history beginning with first contact, colonization, Spanish Rule, the Spanish-American War, World War II and the Japanese occupation—you realize the history of Guam is largely marred by a peoples' inability to choose and self-determine their fate. It is a history where creation and control are absent and the society is asked to respond to a given situation. This is not unique to Guam, it is not unique to the Freely Associated States, South East Asia, Latin America, or Africa. This tends to be the ubiquitous experience of most countries throughout the world where the right to choose for oneself is stripped away and in turn a fate is imposed on the individual and a society as a whole.  Today, I would like to offer a different, emerging trend and that is the ability to influence and positively affect what the future of this region will be. All morning we've heard a lot about what the varying initiatives of the Center for Micronesian Empowerment are, what efforts are underway to realize our untapped potential and I think what is most promising is that we have the ability to shape our own future, even in the midst of the minds of some who believe the events of today and the coming years are out of our hands. The ability to create is the most empowering thing that can happen to an individual and most importantly to a region. I also believe that the region must come to the collective realization that there is really only one way to realize and capitalize our potential and that is by focusing on the fundamental pillar of progress and that is education.

What do I mean by education? I am not referring strictly to education in the conventional sense of educating and equipping the masses with the necessary tools to compete. Obviously this is a huge component and integral to determining the success of this build up but I am however referencing the education that is needed in order for this island and region to inform its own future, on its own term. At the conclusion of this conference, participants will walk away with a clearer understanding of where the military stands, what its commitments to the region are and will be in the coming months, the efforts the local and regional leadership is undertaking, the work of non-profits and the general notion of what the workforce capacity on the island is, what gaps still need to be filled, what labor will need to be brought in and from where. What I mean by education is broader-based. The direction this island and ultimately this region will take is largely predicated on the extent to which we furnish and crystallize a vision for ourselves. To what extent will we commit ourselves to informing our community about what is at stake? To what extent will we commit to taking that initiative in informing first ourselves and then other stakeholders on what, if any our demands will be? To what extent will we inform ourselves about what the conditions and premises of our cultural preservation and natural resources will be? To what extent will we commit to looking regionally and ensuring Guam, the Northern Marianas and the Freely Associated States are further bolstered? So if I have any good news this afternoon it is that we are still in the plenary stages of this effort, there is still the opportunity to positively influence, there is still the occasion to exercise initiative if you haven't done so and begin developing a proactive platform in which the region, as an island community guides its own sustainable economic development.

Melinda Gates often shares her experiences in working with the Gates Foundation, the travel she has done throughout the developing world and the trends she finds as she goes from village to village attempting to carry out the initiatives of the Millennium Development Goals. According to Melinda Gates there is a fascinating, pervasive trend throughout the entire world that does not discriminate on race, sex religious affiliation, or social status and that is the world's abiding love for: Coca-cola. Marveled by Coke's universal impact, she set out to study how it was that Coke can get to some of the world's most far-flung places. Because we can understand what makes something like Coca-Cola universal, we can apply those lessons then for the public good. Success is relevant, because if we can analyze it, learn from it, then we can improve lives." Gates argues that Coke product manufacturers take real-time data and immediately feed it back into the product. They tap into local entrepreneurial talent, and they do incredible marketing. In her assessment of Coca-Cola, Gates quickly learned a few things and the first was the importance of data. According to Gates, for Coke manufacturers its very clear cut and the bottom line is that there has to be a profit, so data is utilized to measure progress, they employ continuous feedback, they learn something and then immediately put it back into the product, back into the market. Coke refers to this exercise as "Knowledge and Insight."

What else is Coke good at?  She discovered Coke's efficiency at tapping into that local entrepreneurial talent. Since 1928, Coke has been investing in Africa but most of the time they couldn't reach the distant markets, because they had a system that was a lot like the developed world, which was a large truck rolling down the street. And in Africa, the remote places, it's hard to find a good road. But Gates argues that Coke noticed something, they realized that local people were taking the product, buying it in bulk and then reselling it in these hard-to-reach places-- eventually deciding in the 1990s that they wanted to start training local entrepreneurs, giving them small loans. They set them up as micro-distribution centers and hired local entrepreneurs as sales people, who go out on bicycles and pushcarts and wheelbarrows to sell the product.  In her research, Gates found that there are now some 3,000 of these centers employing about 15,000 people in Africa.

And finally, Gates identified a third component that ultimately drives Coke's success and that is their ability to effectively market their product. Gates discovered that Coke's success was largely contingent on one crucial fact, and that is that people want a Coca-Cola.  She says with a global slogan, it is still very local, because no matter where you live-- why wouldn't anyone not want to "Open Happinness"?

So, how can we apply what Gates has learned about Coke to Guam and the region? First, preliminary research must be done and that is what we are doing today and will continue to do in the coming months. Assessments will be made that better identify existing skill-sets, capacity and where the voids are. Coordination must be cross-cutting; occurring at all levels to more effectively communicate what niches the island will be able to fill. Information and data must be gathered in such a way that synchronizes efforts. Just last August, through the hard work of Sarah Thomas-Nededog the region held its very first Micronesian non-profit congress where participants strengthened their efforts by learning from one another, developing regional collaboration, identifying their varying functions and then leveraging these resources to affect a solidified vision.

The second lesson is that entrepreneurial talents are well and alive. Our region has a culture that is largely based on public sector employment and the fact that our islands are small and remote with inconsiderable would-be markets, is a notion that has largely stifled and impeded the development of businesses and the private sector, however small. I believe however that this is a state of mind and not necessarily a state of being and we have the ability to influence and leverage for ourselves the kind of development we wish to see. And we do this, the same way Coke did, we focus locally.  We identify regional capacity and begin investing. This means you shift your conditioned way of thinking and you begin by dropping the bottle of Evian, DeerPark or whatever is in your hands and you begin drinking LeLu water. How many of you know that in Kosrae, local fresh spring water is being quite elegantly manufactured by a local Kosraen business, that employs locals, that in turn markets this water throughout the FSM and Micronesia? How many of you drink and actively support Lelu water? I know U.S. Ambassador Peter Prahar and his wife do, they have stacks of Lelu Kosraen water in their residence in Pohnpei. These are two individuals creating a demand for a local product and in order for Lelu to be successful; it is going to require the region to ensure its success by creating that demand. This about reinforcement. When we as a community support local businesses and understand that it is our collective fate that is at stake then I think we are more poised to participate as active and engaged agents. And the notion of supporting regional and local capacity must be backed by a product or individual's ability to consistently and effectively serve and deliver.

The second component of this is creating that demand for the efficient, quality product. Many commitments have been made with respect to how this build-up will occur and the talk cannot be idle. Just as the community must take initiative in inserting itself, the planners of this build up, the Federal government must establish a consorted effort to ensure they are looking locally and throughout the region and creating opportunities. There is a lot of talk about the opportunities that will occur outside the fence and just as the region is working to position itself strategically, there needs to be a conscious effort on the part of the Federal government to recognize this and take full advantage.

And the final component of Coke's model is the branding. It is about building a reputation that can be identified and that people can support. This is perhaps the most abstract of the three but it is the one we have the most control over. It is about deciding for ourselves what our quality of life will be.  It is about setting a standard and excelling on our own terms. And we do this by a making a commitment to education. Earlier this week just about every local paper I picked up featured the story of the recent Pohnpeian graduates of the CME.  Governor Esha and other local leaders traveled here to Guam to celebrate the accomplishments of these young men, lauding their successful completion of the program and what their achievements signified for the people of Pohnpei. And in previous months we celebrated the success of a group of Chuukese young men who also went through a similar training program and who also encapsulate the pride and joy of Chuuk. And while the number of graduates is small, the impact is immense. It is a positive impact that isn't necessarily localized, it is expansive, and the results extend well beyond the FSM. And initiatives and successes such as these are not unilateral, they strengthen and fortify the existing efforts that are also underway at the University of Guam, through the leadership of President Underwood and President Mary Okada at the Guam Community College, to provide specialty training, to ensure our young people are equipped with the necessary skill sets that will allow them to compete in our evolving economy.  This is about empowering our communities, even if the effort is initially small-scale. When educational opportunities are increased, the standards by which an individual measures himself are elevated and in turn the vision of a community is shaped.

If in the past we have been reactive participants in history, today is our opportunity to be proactive, emboldened and ready to unitedly determine our way forward. As individuals our commitment must be to exercise ingenuity and innovation, equipping ourselves as a community to foster and create an environment where these are tenable, realizable goals.  Let us focus our collective efforts to yield collective benefits that will transform the region.

The author of the children's book, the Little Prince who writes enthralling stories that teach our children to dream big and infinitely wrote that, "If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people together to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea."

Last week, I delivered an address at the 9th Annual Native Hawaiian Convention and this year's theme was Building on Greatness, Surviving as Pacific Island Peoples. Over the past nine years this gathering has become a time to rally for the advancement of indigenous peoples throughout the Pacific. And it was clear that the work they are doing motivates and empowers all Pacific Islanders to know that we have a choice in what we pursue and that our future will be determined by the vision we carryout today.

Our history is one that has largely been about survival, enduring and overcoming. It is part of our strong, rich cultural heritage that we share as a people, as Micronesians. This afternoon and as we move forward with this military build up, let us drive a major renaissance in the region that emphasizes our people and our vibrant cultural heritage that seizes opportunities but most importantly, thrives.