[ OUR OPINION ]
Antiterrorism summit
puts Hawaii in spotlightTERRORISM and security measures aimed at combatting it continue to be a deterrent to Hawaii's tourism industry, but the Lingle administration has launched a commendable effort to turn this negative predicament into a positive opportunity. Declaring Hawaii to be the Geneva of the Pacific, the state opens a three-day symposium tomorrow on fighting terrorism, to be attended by about 500 government and business leaders from the United States and Asia.
THE ISSUE
Government and business leaders from the U.S. and Asia are gathering in Honolulu to discuss methods of fighting terrorism.Hawaii has long asserted itself as an ideal meeting place bridging East and West and has lured international organizations to meet here, a recent major one being a conference of the Asian Development Bank two years ago. This week's Asia-Pacific Homeland Security Summit & Exposition at Hilton Hawaiian Village is significantly different: This is not an existing organization looking for a venue but a creation of the state, initiated by the Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism and organized with the state Department of Defense.
State officials have reached out to bring others into the effort, including the Pacific Command, the Center for Asia Pacific Security Studies, the East West Center and the Pacific Disaster Center. Plans were coordinated with the new U.S. Department of Homeland Security, whose secretary, Tom Ridge, is expected to address the symposium Thursday via satellite. The summit is planned as a yearly event.
"No place is as suited to becoming the Geneva of the Pacific as Hawaii," Ted Liu, director of DBEDT, told the Star-Bulletin's editorial board. "The summit will help position in people's minds Hawaii as the place where they can hold high-level meetings and where they can get information about anti-terrorism consulting services, cyber security, chemical and biological warfare and infectious disease."
The war against terrorism began more than two years ago but it continues to hamper Hawaii's tourism industry. Tourist sites have been targeted by terrorists -- bombings of a Marriott hotel in Jakarta this year and a Bali nightclub last year -- and security has become a high priority in the industry.
The terrorism threat has prompted numerous Hawaii-based agencies to bolster security and emergency preparedness, areas where a vacuum exists in Asia "Hawaii is a place where private sector leaders from throughout Asia can come for expertise," said Ray Jefferson, deputy director of DBEDT. "They need technology and training to protect their businesses, ports and harbors."
Hawaii's attraction as a meeting site continues to face obstacles related to terrorism. The Amway Corp. recently ruled out Los Angeles or Hawaii as a possible convention site for about 8,000 South Korean distributors because of the U.S. security requirement that they all complete face-to-face interviews with U.S. consular officers, according to the Washington Post. The convention instead has been scheduled in Japan.
