PRIME Minister Rick Houenipwela met with a high-level delegation from the Australia Government at the Office of the Prime Minister & Cabinet (OPMC) yesterday.
During the meeting, Prime Minister Hou reiterated his Government’s commitment in seeing this project progress further.
Hou was very impressed by the project’s progressive developments when briefed by the Australian delegation.
The Australian Government is committed to majority fund the project that would be a first for Solomon Islands, which is currently reliant on expensive and unreliable satellite communications.
The Australian delegation led by Deputy Secretary Penny Williams met with the Prime Minister to brief him on options to land the cable in Australia.
The delegation also met with other senior members of Government as part of their visit.
“I am pleased the study has found a number of solutions that would provide Solomon Islands with a high-speed internet connection from Australia at a competitive price,” Ms Williams said.
“Supplying Solomon Islanders with faster, more reliable and more accessible internet has the potential to bring about substantial economic and development benefits.”
The Solomon Islands Government is expected to formally consider the scoping study findings before the end of April, with project sustainability underway in the second half of this year.
The Australian delegation and telecommunications provider Vocus are currently here to present the findings of a scoping study into the new undersea cable from Australia to Solomon Islands.
–OPMC PRESS
