Contractors This week's Asian Development Bank meeting will provide about $1.5 million in work for local contractors and service personnel, without counting the as yet immeasurable costs of security.
gear up for ADB
Direct and indirect expenditures
could total $11 million for
the bank meeting>> Who's attending ADB
>> Local business ambivalent
>> Japan, U.S. likely topicsBy Russ Lynch
Star-Bulletin
But according to a Hawaii Visitors & Convention Bureau estimate, the convention is expected to put some $11 million directly into the island economy.
It could well be more if the corporations that will be here to meet with government officials from around the Pacific Rim do the level of entertaining that is expected, said Bob Fishman, chief executive of the Hawaii Tourism Authority.
Companies on the receiving end of the budget money, those providing services to conventioneers, don't like this one to be considered "business as usual," because of its high political profile, but they also say handling a convention of this size, with some 3,000 delegates, is something to which they are quite accustomed.
"From a political standpoint, we know this is very important for the state," said Michael Carr, president of Polynesian Adventure Tours, which has a contract to carry some 2,000 ADB meeting participants to and from Honolulu Airport and provide shuttle services between the Hawaii Convention Center and four big Waikiki hotels that are the main hosts for the conventioneers.
But the company has done the same type of work for much bigger meetings, such as the American Dental Association and the International Association of Lions Clubs, and is ready for this one, said Carr. The company will have about 150 people working for the convention.
Carr's company was brought into the meeting by Aloha Resources Inc., a destination management company that was selected as the master contractor for the meet-and-greet and transportation work for the convention.
Frank Smith, president of Aloha Resources, said his staff of about 20 is busy. Aside from Polynesian Adventure Tours, he has contracted with Elite Limousine Service for the VIP transportation. Smith declined to discuss how much the contracts are worth.The convention center is being given away rent-free for the ADB meeting.
"The event itself is hosted by the U.S. government, by contract with the state of Hawaii. Under a memorandum of understanding, the United States has appointed the state of Hawaii as its agent," Fishman said.
Since the host country always picks up the cost of an ADB meeting, the United States and Hawaii, are doing so in this case, Fishman said. And since the state owns the convention center, it would make no sense to charge itself rent.
Besides, said convention center General Manager Joe Davis, the center has the authority to reduce or waive rent any time it believes a convention is important enough to the Hawaii economy. In this case, the belief is the ADB meeting, with so many big spenders from governments and the private sector in town, will produce more than enough tax revenue for the state to justify rent-free use of the center.
Davis said the construction work going on at the center, such as developing 80 removable offices, is well within what would be done for any major meeting.
There is also work being done in setting up the Global Pavilion, an 8,000-square-foot exhibition where local businesses will show off their products and services, Davis said.
Much of the driving for the dignitaries, mostly finance ministers from the member countries, will be done by Hawaii Army and Air National Guard members, using a fleet of some 70 cars donated for the convention by Ford Motor Co., through its subsidiary Hertz Rent A Car. The Hawaii Tourism Authority will pick up the tab for the gasoline, which is expected to cost about $2,000.
Some eight or 10 hotels will provide accommodations, with the ADB taking out a number of rooms and office space at the Ala Moana Hotel.
The tourism authority's Fishman said the ADB is exercising a treaty it has with the United States, which amounts to a requirement that it gets tax immunity as a foreign country.
The fact that Hawaii's hotel room tax, called the transient accommodations tax, is paid by the hotels and only indirectly by guests, was treated as a technicality, Fishman said, with the ADB insisting the 7.25 percent tax be waived.
"The TAT and all other taxes are waived for people with appropriate diplomatic status," Fishman said, and although the ADB is not a foreign government it wanted to be treated like one.
In the end, however, the only room taxes that will be waived are those incurred by the ADB itself for its own personnel and for meetings. With the room tax now running at 7.25 percent and the general excise tax at 4 percent, the ADB visitors' tax contribution alone will be substantial. With the average room revenue in Waikiki running about $98 a day, according to the latest report by the research firm PKF-Hawaii Inc., the presence of more than 3,000 people for six days or so will produce about $130,000 in room tax , probably much more given that many delegates will stay in the highest-priced hotels.
Then comes the 4 percent general excise tax on everything they spend.
The importance of the ADB meeting goes well beyond income generated from the convention itself, said Sandra Moreno, head of the Meetings, Incentives and Conventions division of the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau.
"For the state, it is image building and perception changing as they try to work through our strategy of positioning Hawaii as 'the ultimate global gathering place,' " Moreno said. Hawaii hopes to make direct contacts that could lead to more international conventions in the future, she said.
52 countries have registered delegates for this week's Asian Development Bank conference. Japan has far and away the largest delegation, with 50 representatives registered. The following are the delegation heads from each country with their conference titles listed before their names and their professional titles after. ADB Delegates
>> Australia, governor, Peter Costello, treasurer
>> Austria, governor, Karl-Heinz Grasser, minister of finance
>> Azerbaijan, temporary alternate governor, Samir Sharifov, executive director, State Oil Fund
>> Bangladesh, alternate governor, A.K.M. Masihur Rahman, secretary, Economic Relations Division, Ministry of Finance
>> Belgium, alternate governor, Gino P. Alzetta, director of international relations, Ministry of Finance-Treasury
>>Bhutan, temporary alternate governor, Wangdi Norbu, finance secretary
>> Cambodia, governor, Keat Chhon, senior minister of economy and finance
>> Canada, temporary alternate governor, Roger Ehrhardt, director general, Multilateral Programmes, International Financial Institutions
>> People's Republic of China, governor, Xiang Huaicheng, minister of finance
>> Cook Islands, governor ad interim, Teremoana Tapi Taio, undersecretary, Office of the Prime Minister
>> Denmark, temporary alternate governor, Kirsten Geelan, head of Department for UN Affairs and International Financial Institutions, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
>> Fiji Islands, alternate governor, Savenaca Narube, governor, Reserve Bank of Fiji
>> Finland, temporary alternate governor, Matti Kaariainen, deputy director general of multilateral development affairs, Ministry for Foreign Affairs
>> France, temporary alternate governor, Bruno Bezard, deputy assistant secretary for debt and development issues
>> Germany, governor, Uschi Eid, parliamentary state secretary, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development
>> Hong Kong, China, temporary alternate governor, Norman Tak Lam Chan, deputy chief executive, Hong Kong Monetary Authority
>> India, governor, Yashwant Sinha, minister of finance
>> Indonesia, governor, Prijadi Praptosuhardjo, minister of finance
>> Italy, temporary alternate governor, Fabrizio Saccomanni, central director for international affairs, Banca D'Italia
>> Japan, governor, Kiichi Miyazawa, minister of finance
>> Kazakhstan, governor, Zhaxybek A. Kulekeyev, minister of economy and trade
>> Kiribati, governor, Beniamina Tinga, vice president and minister of finance and economic planning
>> Republic of Korea, governor, Nyum Jin, deputy prime minister and minister of finance and economy
>> Kyrgyz Republic, governor, Temirbek A. Akmataliev, minister of finance
>> People's Democratic Republic of Lao, governor ad interim, Liane Thykeo, vice minister of finance
>> Malaysia, governor, Tun Daim Zainuddin, minister of finance
>> Maldives, governor, Ismail Shafeeu, minister of homes affairs, housing and environment
>> Federated States of Micronesia, governor, John Ehsa, secretary of finance and administration
>> Mongolia, governor, Chultem Ulaan, minister of finance and economy
>> Myanmar, governor, U Khin Maung Thein, minister for finance and revenue
>> Republic of Nauru, adviser, Kenneth Edward Walker, honorary consul, Sydney
>> Nepal, governor, Ram Sharan Mahat, minister of finance
>> Netherlands, temporary alternate governor, Jan Willem van der Kaaij, deputy director foreign financial relations, Ministry of Finance
>> New Zealand, governor ad interim, Trevor Colin Mallard, minister of the crown
>> Norway, alternate governor, Age Bernhard Grutle, director general, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
>> Pakistan, governor, Shaukat Aziz, minister for finance and economic affairs
>> Philippines, governor, Alberto G. Romulo, secretary of finance
>> Samoa, governor, Misa Telefoni Retzlaff, deputy prime minister and minister of finance
>> Singapore, governor ad interim, Lim Hng Kiang, minister for health and second minister for finance
>> Spain, temporary alternate governor, Gonzalo Ramos Puig, ministry of economy
>> Sweden, temporary alternate governor, Gunilla Olsson, ministry of foreign affairs
>> Switzerland, governor, Ambassador Oscar Knapp, state secretariat for economic affairs
>> Taipei, China, governor, Fai-nan Perng, governor, The Central Bank of China, Taipei
>> Tajikistan, governor, Murotali Alimardonov, chairman, National Bank of Tajikistan
>> Thailand, governor, Somkid Jatusripitak, minister of finance
>> Tonga, governor, Siosiua T.T. Utoikamanu, minister of finance
>> Turkey, alternate governor, Mehmet Aydin Karaoz, deputy undersecretary of treasury
>> Tuvalu, governor, Lagitupu Tuilimu, minister of finance and economic planning
>> United Kingdom, temporary alternate governor, Barrie Ireton, director-general of Programmes, Department for International Development
>> United States, governor, Paul H. O'Neill, secretary of the treasury
>> Republic of Uzbekistan, alternate governor, Rustam Sadikovich Azimov, deputy prime minister
>> Socialist Republic of Vietnam, governor, Le Duc Thuy, governor, State Bank of Viet Nam
Asian Development Bank