by Lannie Walker

Guam - Speaker Judi Won Pat and four of her colleagues have returned from a six-day trip to Taiwan. The goodwill trip was aimed at learning how to develop Guam's economy.

The delegation conducted back to back meetings with government officials from the Environmental Protection Agency, fisheries and aquaculture agencies, the Port Authority, and solid waste agencies. "We want also to develop and find economic opportunities and to either create jobs or to look at new types of markets for Guam, because after all our population will go from 180,000 to 260,000 people. So we are looking at a diverse community."

While no official deals were made with Taiwan-based companies, Won Pat says many expressed interest in doing business on Guam. The speaker would like see "vertical greening", requiring companies to line the walls of their buildings with plans and other greenery brought to the island.