Savai'i will host the biannual Atoa o Samoa summit next week with delegates from the American Samoa government expected to arrive this weekend.

Last year the Samoa Government hosted the Atoa o Samoa summit in Apia at the Taumeasina Island Resort. This year the leaders of the American Samoa government and the Samoa Government met in April in Pago Pago. 

One of the anticipated outcomes from the discussions between the two Samoas during their April meeting was for Samoa to give approval for certification courses to be held at the National University of Samoa. It was proposed that by the time they meet in Savai'i, American Samoa would have established a temporary redundancy line. 

The countries mutually agreed that within the next two years, a cable would be established between Samoa and American Samoa with its implementation subject to approvals from the Federal Cable Company.

The two countries also agreed to exchange information on frequency and compliance requirements and very high frequency (VHF) communications to be established in Pago Pago.

Other key issues the two neighbours mutually agreed on included improvements in their health sectors. These include a proposal by the Samoa Government on the possibility of a "shared electronic database" for resources. This is to help identify gaps in services and where help is needed to be filled in both countries. The meeting held in American Samoa in April this year also discussed medical referrals to the dialysis clinic in Samoa. 

"Patients are travelling from American Samoa to receive dialysis treatment without a referral or appointment and without medical records or history," the outcome statement from the meeting noted. "This poses difficulties to accommodate walk-ins at a very busy clinic. 

"Samoa Government requests to strengthen compliance with the requirements to bring medical records and or information and set appointments beforehand to help minimize the occurrence of patients being turned away."

One of the possible anticipated outcomes of the discussions is to establish a framework for potential training and school opportunities for American Samoa medical workers at the University of the South Pacific. They have been asked to create an exchange program for sharing medical specialty services between Samoa and American Samoa.

"Establish a framework to accommodate the varying pharmaceutical needs of both Samoas, strengthen communicable disease control, improve immunisation rates for school children, potentially create a system to share electronic databases between Samoa and American Samoa, and discuss a memorandum between both governments."

In terms of telecommunication technology, the meeting also discussed ways in which they can mutually develop and improve the sector within the two countries. They also noted the possibility of certification training to be undertaken by recognised institutions including the NUS to build capacities in technical, engineering, and infrastructure fields.

"A memorandum of understanding was signed between the American Samoa Telecommunications Authority and the Samoa Ministry of Communications centred on increasing training capacity and reducing broadband costs for Samoa, securing redundancy, and providing an alternative route to New Zealand and Australia for Samoa via the Hawaiki cable system."