Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi said the project could make Asau an international port of entry in two years.
Harbour facilities at Asau were constructed by the government in the mid 1960s to accommodate an American timber company which for a time was Samoa's biggest employer.
Without saying where funding for the project had come from, Tuilaepa announced yesterday the channel would be deepened and widened to international standards.
