DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Ten ASEAN ambassadors toured Waimanalo's Oceanic Institute yesterday as part of a state effort to court them. The ambassadors, who were invited to Hawaii in conjunction with the Asia-Pacific Homeland Security Summit & Exposition, were shown tanks where Oceanic raises fish for aquaculture. From left are Roland Eng, Cambodia's ambassador to the United States, the Oceanic Institute's Larren Tang and Dato Sheikh Abdul Khalid Ghazzali, Malaysia's U.S. ambassador. The state hopes to build economic partnerships with these Southeast Asian countries and Oceanic Institute hopes to export its expertise and technology in aquaculture.
Local businesses rub elbows
with dignitaries at summit
Will Little, an exhibitor at the state's first ever Asia-Pacific anti-terrorism summit, said he was there gathering information as well as educating attendees about what Akimeka, a Native Hawaiian-owned company, could bring to homeland security.
"This is as much about providing information to the public as it is to interested parties across the board," Little said. "The business that we are in is dependent on the different contractors all working together."
Akimeka, an information technology company that offers products and services to the Department of Defense and other government agencies, was just one of about 50 local, state and national businesses represented at the homeland security expo, built around the Asia-Pacific Homeland Security Summit & Exposition.
More than 600 government, military and business leaders from more than 19 nations and U.S. territories in the Asia-Pacific region are expected to attend the event, which began yesterday at the Hilton Hawaiian Village and ends tomorrow.
Among the guests are 10 ambassadors from the Association of South East Asian Nations and members of US-ASEAN Business Council, who arrived in Honolulu Monday to meet with military, business and academic leaders to discuss furthering relationships between their countries and Hawaii.
Countries, territories and economies represented include: American Samoa, Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, Guam, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Palau, The Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka Taiwan, Thailand, United States and Vietnam.
The idea behind the event is to demonstrate to the global market that Hawaii is a safe place and that it has the technological expertise and resources to provide cutting-edge homeland security expertise and services, said Ted Liu, director of the state Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism.
"The summit will definitely be the best venue for leaders from all sectors to interact with each other, learn best practices, and develop public and private sector strategies to address shared security challenges and concerns," Liu said.
Albert Del Rosario, Philippines ambassador to the United States, said he has met with representatives from Booz Allen Hamilton to discuss opportunities for them in his country.
In addition to the U.S. Subic Bay Naval Base and Clark Air Base, Del Rosario said his country is looking for other defense-related industries to serve the region.
"There are many opportunities for Hawaii-based companies in the area of defense," he said.
Del Rosario said he also sees opportunities for Hawaii and ASEAN to work together in the areas of medicine, education and homeland security.
State officials see the summit as a chance to capitalize on Hawaii's two biggest economic drivers: the U.S. military and tourism. DBEDT leaders said they hope combining government outreach with business initiatives and an antiterrorism trade fair at the summit could help spur economic improvements to Hawaii's business, trade, commerce and tourism sectors.
Suzanne Maese, spokes-woman for Sensormatic, said although the net impact of the summit will be unknown for some time, the concept is promising.
Maese was fielding delegate questions minutes after the expo opened, she said. The Aiea-based physical security engineering company was showcasing next-generation security solutions being delivered to the Navy, Coast Guard, Marines and Army with Booz Allen Hamilton and Boeing Co.
After security leaders and business leaders from Asia, the Pacific Rim and the Mainland come together at the summit, the hope is that they will view Hawaii as a neutral place where they can talk about sensitive topics related to terrorism and where they can take advantage of significant homeland security assists, such as the Pacific Command, the Center for Asia Pacific Security Studies, the East West Center and the Pacific Disaster Center, Liu said.
Business leaders also expect the expo to open other markets, said Adrian DiTucci, an account executive with Sprint Hawaii, who was demonstrating wireless technology at the event.
"It opens another avenue for people to see what's out there," DiTucci said. "In these days of homeland security, people have to be more mobile and responsive and Sprint's capabilities allow them to do that.
Some businesses at the expo, like Environmental Systems Research Institute Inc., have already seen the advantages of doing business in the Asia-Pacific region.
Demand for the company's geographic information systems mapping technology has led to the opening of offices in Australia, India, Korea, Japan, Thailand and Singapore, said Royce Jones, Hawaii and Pacific Islands manager for ESRI.
