by Richard Butler | 23 Nov 2018 | Play
Richard Butler | Island Life | 23 Nov 2018
The tourism industries of SPTO member countries will benefit from the Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) through the promotion of the China Pacific Tourism Year 2019 (CPTY). This was announced by President Xi Jinping on Friday when he met with Pacific Island Country Leaders from Niue, Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, PNG, Cook Islands, FSM and Vanuatu, before the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).
“With the full support of SPTO member countries at the Council Read more [...]
by Richard Butler | 20 Nov 2018 | News
Richard Butler| from RNZ | 20 November 2018
Tonga and Vanuatu have signed up to China’s Belt and Road initiative.
The announcements came on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Papua New Guinea last week.
Tonga’s memorandum of understanding on Belt and Road was followed by a reprieve of the country’s debt payments owed to China.
Lopeti Senituli, a political adviser to Tongan Prime Minister ‘Akilisi Pohiva, told Reuters the loan payments had been deferred for five years.
Meanwhile, Read more [...]
by Richard Butler | 17 Nov 2018 | News
Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with President of the Federated States of Micronesia Peter Christian, Port Moresby, PNG, November 16, 2018. /Xinhua Photo
Richard Butler | Xinhua | 17 Nov 2018
Chinese President Xi Jinping met with the leaders of seven Pacific island countries respectively in Port Moresby, capital of Papua New Guinea (PNG), on Friday.
The countries are the Federated States of Micronesia, Samoa, Vanuatu, the Cook Islands, Tonga, Niue and Fiji, which have established diplomatic Read more [...]
by Richard Butler | 09 Nov 2018 | News
Richard Butler | CNN | 9 Nov 2018
Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi shake hands at a news conference at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing Thursday.
Dr. John Lee is senior fellow at the Hudson Institute (Washington) and United States Studies Centre (Sydney), and an adjunct professor at the University of Sydney. From 2016 until April 2018 he was senior national security adviser to the Australian foreign minister and also served as Read more [...]
by Richard Butler | 30 Oct 2018 | News
Richard Butler | HydroWorld.com | 30 Oct 2018
The government of Vanuatu and the Asian Development Bank have chosen Stantec to be design supervision consultant for the Vanuatu Energy Access Project, which includes the 400-kW Brenwe Hydropower Plant.
The project, on the island of Malekula, also includes grid extensions across Espiritu Santo and Malekula.
The completed project will displace about 90% of the diesel energy currently used as a power source for Malekula. Only 33% of the citizens Read more [...]
