Pacific Perspective
Pacific Perspective
Is Hawaii’s Asian
policy strategic?Over the years, Hawaii's government has proposed many initiatives aimed at stimulating economic growth by exploiting our mid-Pacific location. On a regular basis, delegations of visiting dignitaries from various countries in Asia are received with protocol and hospitality. Hawaii officials travel to Asia, imploring Japanese tourists to return, or visit Chinese government offices and industries.
But one has to wonder "What is the state's ultimate goal with regard to Asia?" Are these activities part of a strategy to position Hawaii vis-à-vis Asia, or are they just opportunistic episodes that allow us to pretend we are important economic players in the Asia-Pacific region?
Politicians live in a world of limited terms and frequent elections, and often do not have the luxury (or discipline) to plan for the long-term. However, Hawaii desperately needs leadership that can develop a vision for Hawaii at least 20 years into the future.
Is Hawaii's primary long-term business strategy to be the premier tropical resort destination in the Pacific-Asia region? If so, we should invest in protecting Hawaii's natural beauty, develop more tourist attractions that appeal to the Asian visitor, and make travel to Hawaii as easy and safe as possible by upgrading our airport and related infrastructures.
This strategy has the advantage of being relatively easy to understand and would be based on our current position of strength in tourism. It also is relatively easy to implement because we won't need a particularly well-educated work force, a good public school system or a world-class university to implement it.
However, this strategy has a disadvantage in that there are many tropical vacation destinations throughout Asia with high-quality facilities and services that are less expensive and closer to Asia than we are. I recently attended a meeting in Bali, Indonesia, at which the location, facilities and services were as good as any I've experienced in Hawaii (or anywhere else) for about 70 percent of the cost. Furthermore, if Hawaii's tourists are only coming for a vacation, it isn't particularly important for them to be in the United States. In fact, the increased security and immigration processing required to enter the United States could be considered a disadvantage.
The biggest disadvantage to this strategy is that the types of jobs available to Hawaii's workers will be lower-wage, and the class division between the "haves" and "have nots" will continue to widen.
An alternate business development strategy the state has proposed is to position Hawaii as a good place for high-tech business. The passing of Act 221 to attract investment in high-tech businesses is probably the most visible manifestation of this strategy. Other evidence of this strategy includes the building of high-tech parks and incubators on every island. These efforts represent a good start, but are not sufficient to position Hawaii as a location to sustain a high-tech industrial base.
This strategy will require a sustained commitment to high-quality public education at all levels, from pre-school through graduate school. And if we want to include investors and customers from Asia, our educational system must also incorporate the study of Asian languages and cultures.
Hawaii's status as part of the United States could be used as an advantage with Asian competitors in regard to the protection of intellectual property, the rule of law, access to U.S. banking and capital markets, and well-defined controls over corruption.
If the state really wants to implement this strategy we will need to change our business and labor laws and policies to support a knowledge-based economy rather than the present labor-based economy of agriculture and tourism.
At some point in the future, we will also have to decrease the marketing and promotion of Hawaii as a vacation destination, and commit to increasing marketing and promotion of Hawaii as a serious business destination. Hawaii's visitor promotion activities over the past 40 years have resulted in the development of a very strong brand image as a leisure destination. This leisure image is so strong I have encountered frequent reluctance on the part of U.S. officials to hold meetings in Hawaii, or even to travel to Hawaii on legitimate business.
A high-tech strategy for Hawaii will also encounter tough competition from other locations, both in Asia and the United States. But the long-term payoff for Hawaii's citizens will be higher-paying jobs, more income equality and less class division.
Shirley J. Daniel is the Henry A. Walker Jr. Distinguished Professor of Business Enterprise at the University of Hawaii at Manoa College of Business Administration.