Asian Development Bank

This is part of the ADB’s expansion of its presence in the sub region.

The office in Samoa will be led by Senior Country Coordination Officer for ADB, Tuala Maria Melei.

The expansion, which was recently approved by ADB.’s Board of Directors, involves the conversion of four extended missions—in Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu—into country offices. 

It also includes the establishment of seven new country offices in the Cook Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, and Tuvalu. 

In its latest Pacific Economic Monitor the Bank said changes were needed now to mitigate disaster risks to improve the region's economic growth and development prospects,

The ADB's director general of its Pacific Department, Carmela Locsin, said many Pacific countries had taken steps to improve resilience but she said more innovative approaches and greater institutional capacity could help the response.

The Asian Development Bank has approved a loan of up to US$2 million to facilitate the development of solar projects in the country.

The ADB-administered Canadian Climate Fund for the Private Sector in Asia will provide an additional US$1 million concessional loan and also a preparatory technical assistance grant to help overcome any early-stage barriers to developing PV in the region.

Using the financing, Jarcon Pty and Sun Pacific Energy (SPEL) will expand a 2.2MW solar farm in Samoa that is in partial operation to up to 4MW.

The Pacific Island countries to be supported by the new fund include the Cook Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Nauru, Palau, the Republic of Marshall Islands, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.

These countries face developmental issues such as small populations, limited resources, remoteness and vulnerability to natural disasters.

The Pacific Energy Update 2017 provides a comprehensive overview of ADB’s energy-focused work in the Pacific. The publication highlights the impacts of ADB-supported energy initiatives completed in 2016 and ongoing in 2017, while providing details of what ADB hopes to achieve in the energy sector in the future.

“ADB’s financing has helped Samoa to achieve development results for the focal sectors it is engaged in,” said Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sa’ilele Malielegaoi.“The new ADB Extended Mission will allow us to collectively better respond to the development needs of the people of Samoa.”

The bank said strong economic growth was masking urgent infrastructure and environmental challenges that threaten the long term sustainability of Palau's economy.

In an ADB assessment it warned the rapid growth of low-end tourism could damage Palau's famed natural environment and World Heritage sites.

The bank's Liliana Warid says figures showing GDP growth of 5.3 percent in 2014 and 8.2 percent in 2015 don't capture the risks that increased tourist numbers bring to popular sites.

Bhimantara Widyajala, Executive Director of ADB’s Board of Directors and representing the Government of Samoa, and Xianbin Yao, Director General of ADB’s Pacific Department, signed the grant for the Samoa Fiscal Resilience Improvement Programme in a ceremony at the ADB headquarters.

“The ADB assistance aims to reduce the vulnerability and boost the resilience of Samoa’s economy to fiscal and climatic shocks,” said Yao at the signing event. 

It involved an upgrade and rehabilitation of the road network in South Tarawa.

The project was also being supported by the World Bank and the Government of Australia through the Pacific Regional Infrastructure Facility.

The ADB grant was to go to the construction of important road network links by adding an extra 7.8 kilometres of paved road and half a kilometre of unpaved road to cover additional areas in Betio and Bairiki linked to the current project.

Photo: Shifani Sood

The Outer Island Maritime Infrastructure Project aims to construct a small harbour on the island of Nukulaelae, and rehabilitate boat ramps on Nanumaga and Niutao.

Most Tuvalu outer islands lack docking facilities for ocean-going ships making it more difficult to transfer passengers and cargo on workboats.

The Financial reported that the $US13.3 million project is geared to develop an overall plan for making shipping to and from the capital safer and more efficient.