The Head of State, His Highness Tuimaleali’ifano Va’aletoa Sualauvi II, was among dignitaries at the Robert Louis Stevenson Museum on Tuesday night.

Despite the rain and sodden soil, His Highness Tuimaleali’ifano, Prime Minister Tuilaepa and a host of Government officials, members of the private sector and members of the public turned up to welcome the Asian Development Bank delegation.

The President of A.D.B Takehiko Nakao and his colleagues were welcomed with food, drinks and a cultural performance by Taupou Manaia, featuring the traditional Tausala Samoa.

Chief executive officer of the Ministry of Finance Leasiosiofaasisina Oscar Malielegaoi hosted the event. 

Prime Minister Tuilaepa delivered the keynote address.

Mr. Nakao also delivered brief remarks, before the festivities began.

The welcome function was held on the second day of Mr. Nakao’s first official visit to Samoa.

Since he arrived on Monday, he visited the A.D.B’s first private sector investment in the country, the Solar Power Development Project, which is expanding an existing solar farm to help the country lower its dependence on fossil fuels.

He also visited the Fiaga power station and battery storage facility, which are part of the Power Sector Expansion Project that has funded 13 generation projects and 27 transmission projects in Samoa to meet growing electricity demand.

Yesterday, Mr. Nakao helped to commission the Tafitoala and Fausaga small hydropower plant.

He also visited the Agribusiness Support Project, which is expanding access to finance and providing capacity building support for commercially sustainable agribusinesses.

“ADB is building its presence in 11 Pacific island countries to increase the impact of its growing program of assistance,” a statement from ADB said. 

“The expansion will involve the conversion of four extended missions—Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu—into country offices, and the establishment of seven new country offices in the Cook Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, and Tuvalu. ADB currently has resident missions in Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste, a Pacific liaison and coordination office in Sydney, and a Pacific subregional office in Fiji.

“Across the Pacific region, ADB is significantly scaling up financing to help developing member countries achieve sustainable economic and social development, while strengthening climate and disaster resilience. The volume of ADB active projects in the Pacific has doubled every 5 years since 2005 and exceeded $3 billion as of end of 2018.  The volume of active ADB’s projects in the Pacific is expected to surpass $4 billion by 2020.

“ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 67 members—48 from the region.”