Quote and Thoughts of the Week

"I think she's brilliant. You have to get the Chinese people coming to Hawai`i. They are the way of the future."

- James F. Smith, chief economist of Parsec Financial Management in North Carolina, praising the Governor's initiative to diversify Hawai`i's visitor market through her proactive efforts in China. Read more.

"The State is upgrading many bridges on the windward side of O`ahu. The new bridges not only are safer for vehicles with crashtested guardrails, wider shoulders, and new pavement markings, but they are also more pedestrian-friendly."

- Brennon Morioka, director of the Department of Transportation, highlighting the Administration's focus on investing in the state's transportation infrastructure. Read more.

"Gov. Linda Lingle left Friday for a two-week visit to China to promote Hawai`i as a destination. Numbers associated with Chinese outbound tourism merit such an effort. Now is the time to start cultivating big growth-potential sources of state revenue."

- An excerpt from the Honolulu Star-Bulletin editorial, "Encouraging tourism from China well-timed." Read more.