Huizhou Municipal Government provided grant for Samoa Culture and Arts Center Construction Project (Linked to Record ID#64048)

Project narrative

On November 10, 2015, Prime Minister of Samoa Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi and the Mayor of Huizhou Mai Jaiomeng signed an MOU on Friendly Cooperation between the cities of Huizhou and Apia. As part of this agreement, Huizhou Municipal Government pledged to provide a grant for the construction of a Samoa Art and Cultural Centre, which will include an Opera House, art exhibition hall, and recreational zone. More specifically, the Samoa Culture and Arts Center Construction Project involved the construction of a recording & audio-visual studio, three conference facilities, a theatre that can house 100 performers and 500 seats, a VIP lounge, cultural exhibition/performance area, artists’ workshop & display & marketing spaces, four training rooms, and a library (including facilities for persons with disabilities). The center was build on the Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture grounds in Malifa, Samoa. The site covers a land area of 9,224 ㎡and a total floor area of 4,375 ㎡. The project implementers -- the Bureau of Housing, Urban and Rural Planning, and Construction of Huizhou Municipality -- worked with the Government of Samoa to agree on procedures and the final design plans. The project implementers visited Apia in November 2017 and construction was originally expected to start in early 2018. On May 11, 2018, Chinese Ambassador Wang Xuefeng attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the China-Samoa Friendship Park and Samoan's Art and Cultural Center Project. Then, on July 20, 2018, Wang Xuefeng and Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa signed a cooperation framework agreements for both the Friendship Park and Cultural Center (as captured via Record ID#64048). The project’s originally scheduled completion date of June 2020 was extended to October 2020 due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. As of March 2021, the project remained incomplete with an estimated completion rate of 95%. A final project handover certificate was issued on May 28, 2022.