Samoa first to draw from Japanese solar/desalination fund

Samoa on 17 June 2011 became the first country to access a Japanese fund set up for solar power generation and seawater desalination or a combination of both. 

TThe Pacific Environment Community (PEC) Fund commits Japan to Yen 6.8 billion (US$ 66 million) in support of countries in the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) wanting to start solar/desalination projects. 

The US$ 4 million PEC Fund allocation for Samoa will go towards the Samoa 400 kWp Solar PV Project, to be managed by Samoa's electricity supplier, the Electric Power Corporation. 

At the signing ceremony in Apia, Japan's ambassador to Fiji, Yutaka Yoshizawa, welcomed Samoa's good work in being the first to access the PEC Fund. 

The secretary general of the PIF Secretariat, Tuiloma Neroni Slade, said, "It is encouraging to note that most countries are making significant progress in the development of their detailed project proposals to access the PEC Fund and the Secretariat looks forward to receiving them in due course."