By Eliza Kukutu
PM WALE
By Alfred Pagepitu
A United States assessment team is expected to visit Solomon Islands by the end of August as the Government moves to advance the Bina Industrial Development Project into its next phase in Malaita Province.
Prime Minister Matthew Wale says the visit will help move the Bina project from a long-planned concept into a development-ready investment.
Speaking to media upon his arrival at Henderson Airport on Monday, Prime Minister Wale said his recent official visits to the United States and Japan were productive and focused on strengthening partnerships to support Solomon Islands’ development priorities.
“It was very productive, very fruitful in terms of resetting our relations with other countries, but also in terms of support for our development aspirations, where we have a coalition vision and policy,” Mr Wale said.
The Prime Minister said Bina remains a key priority and confirmed his strong interest in progressing the project.
“I expect that by the end of August, America will send an assessment team to Bina. I have a very strong interest in Bina and I will give it a very firm commitment, subject to the details, to get Bina from a greenfield to a development stage.”
Mr Wale said the next phase would involve establishing critical infrastructure required to support future investment.
“That means that we go from having a wharf, jetty, port, fuel storage, water, energy, some basic roads, that gets it to development stage.”
He said reaching that stage would help attract further investment from development partners and the private sector, including opportunities for downstream processing and manufacturing.
“Then after that, I will get interest more from US Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and private sector, downstream processing, so factories and all that.”
The Prime Minister acknowledged more technical work is required before the project can move forward, including preparing the necessary information for potential investors.
“We have much work to do to be able to get all the information we need, so by the time it comes to August, we have a bankable project to present.”
Mr Wale said he remains hopeful that construction work could begin next year, although funding arrangements and project details are still being finalised.
“I would like to start working next year on construction.”
He said government officials will continue working with development partners, including the International Finance Corporation (IFC), New Zealand and other supporters involved in advancing the project.
“We now need to get our officials to work, and IFC, and New Zealand, and those who are standing with us.”
The Prime Minister said Bina is a critical development project and expressed confidence that the necessary support can be secured.
“Bina is a critical one and I am very confident that the funding, everything is not confirmed yet, but I am very confident.”
ENDS//
