Hawaii as a Bridge Between China and U.S

Q: Every year， Hawaii hosts lots of international conferences; the participants and tourists consume a great deal of energy which makes Hawaii as the most oil-dependent state in the USA. What kinds of measures have you taken to solve this problem?

A: In the United States， we have the most aggressive clean energy policy， and we have a lot of requires in order generating 70% energy by 2030. We also have tremendous memorandum in terms of moving forward clean energy. Because not only are we overly dependent on fossil fuels but we are paying too much.

The advantage of our situation is that the financial analysis has changed， so that a project that might not make a profit in other places becomes profitable in Hawaii. Because renewable energy is so competitive when compare with our fossil oil import. At the same time， we are also the headquarters for the United States Pacific Command， and the president of the Department of Defense throughout the AsianPacific region. And our DOD (the Department of Defense) has committed to fueling their fleets and bases with clean energy， so we are developing the strong partnerships in that area as well.

Q: During the APEC summit， more than 300 Chinese successful businessmen come to Hawaii， all of them like this city very much. They express their desires to invest and hold conferences here. Do you have some preferential measures for them in the future?

A: We have an agreement between our state department of business and CCPIT to work together on clean energy projects. We are also developing strong relationship with CCPIT in terms of attracting investment and showcasing the investment opportunities that Hawaii has offered. We understand the face to face meetings are critical， that’s why I visited China， and so did the governor. I will be following up in 2012， hopefully to meet CCPIT again to continue the work on our energy agreement and explore new opportunities. Hawaii is wide open for business， anyone who is interested in conducting business in Hawaii can call our office and we will be happy to assist. We are able to give preferential treatment to any particular investor.

Q: Hawaii and CCPIT have well cooperated for many years in multi-aspects， such as the clean energy agreement that you’ve mentioned， is there any further cooperation plans or expansions in new fields? I found that Hawaii has very good facilities for meetings and exhibitions; do you have intentions to develop exhibition industry?

A: We have strong desire to conduct more international meetings. In the convention sectors， we have excel-lent infrastructure. For this APEC summit， our hospitality in the street has shown what they can do. We are going to work hard to attract meetings and conventions. For many years， the convention sector was focusing primarily on North American market. And now we are reaching out as aggressively as we can to the Asian market and particularly China.

Q: What’s your point of view about this summit and what’s the highlight of it?

A: For us， the highlight is to provide comfortable environment for high level discussions to occur. We feel strongly that when people are comfortable physically， culturally， that they are more productive. I think the APEC meeting itself was productive for all the participating in economics because we provided the culturally and physically comfortable infrastructure for more productive meetings. That was the bottom lines. I think the highlight for me was the big surprise that the leaders from 21 countries and what they need to face the great challenges. I expect things to run quite as smoothly as they did， it was very well run and every single person I met across the Asian-pacific region was pleased with our performances and loves Hawaii and loves to come back.

Q: Hawaii is a well-known resort that

people call it “The Haven of the Tourists”. In your view， what are the elements of being a world-famous tourist attraction?

A: We’ll differentiate Hawaii from other

locations， it’s the people， the spirit of“aloha” that sounds sometimes a little bit hard understand for people haven’t come to Hawaii， but if you just spend a couple of days in Hawaii you will understand what I mean.

It is in fact the best climate in the world， it is one of the most beautiful places on the planet， but what we really make Hawaii memorable is the interaction you have with its people. People are never disappointed by Hawaii， whether you come for business or for pleasure you will be happy.

I love Beijing， people are friendly， foods are excellent， and we have many productive meetings. And I expect to visit it again soon.