Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 63 Part 1.djvu/389

 63 STAT.] 81ST CONG., 1 ST SESS.-CH. 285-JUNE 30, 1949 SEC. 2. The Corporation shall have its principal offices in the Virgin Principal offices Islands and in the District of Columbia and shall be deemed, for pur- poses of venue in civil actions, to be an inhabitant of each of these jurisdictions. The Corporation may establish offices in such other place or places as it may deem necessary or appropriate in the conduct of its business. SEC. 3. Subject to the provisions of the Government Corporation Activities. Control Act, the Corporation is authorized to engage in the following StC 7 §841 et activities when it finds that such activities will further the purposes seq.; Supp. II, §846 of this Act and will not conflict with the encouragement and promotion post, p.356. of private enterprise in the Virgin Islands: (a) To examine, investigate, and conduct research and experi- mentation in the marketing, distributing, advertising, and exporting of products or resources of the Virgin Islands, and to make known the results of such activities. (b) To encourage and promote the investment of private capital in industrial, agricultural, commercial, or related enterprises, under- takings, or activities in the Virgin Islands. Insofar as may be possible without jeopardizing the maximum development of the industrial, agricultural, commercial, and related resources of the Virgin Islands for the public good, the Corporation shall formulate its policies so as to encourage and promote the investment of capital owned by residents of the Virgin Islands. (c) To engage in land-use planning to the end that the most economic and socially beneficialuse may be made of the soil of the Virgin Islands, and to encourage and assist private persons and organizations to act in accordance with the results of such planning. (d) To encourage and engage in the business of providing, when- ever adequate facilities are not otherwise available, transportation for persons and property between the Virgin Islands and to and from the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and Tortola. (e) To encourage, promote, and develop, and to assist in the encouragement, promotion, and development of, tourist trade in the Virgin Islands. (f) To encourage the establishment and development of small farms and small farm communities in the Virgin Islands, and, for that purpose, to construct, equip, improve, and supervise such small farms or communities and to give other assistance to them. (g) To make loans to any person for the establishment, maintenance, operation, construction, reconstruction, repair, improvement, or enlargement of any industrial, commercial, agricultural, or related enterprise, undertaking, or activity in the Virgin Islands whenever such loans are not available from private sources. All loans so made shall be of such sound value or so secured as reasonably to assure repayment, taking into consideration the policy of the Congress that the lending powers of the Corporation shall be administered as a means for accomplishing the purposes stated in section 1 of this Act, and shall bear interest at a rate not exceeding 6 per centum per annum. It shall be the general policy of the Corporation to establish interest rates on loans, subject to the foregoing limitations, that, in the judgment of the Board of Directors, will at least cover the interest cost of funds to the United States Treasury, other expenses of the lending activities of the Corporation, and a risk factor which, over all, should provide for losses that may materialize on loans. The loans made under the authority of L this paragraph outstanding at any one time shall not exceed a total of $5,000,000. (h) To establish, maintain, operate, and engage in, upon its own account, any appropriate enterprise, undertaking, or activity for the development of the industrial, commercial, mining, agricultural, live- stock, fishery, or forestry resources of the Virgin Islands: Provided, 351

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