Chinese Government provides grant for St. Therese, Apia and Lepea Primary School Construction Project

Project narrative

On June 12, 2018, the Chinese Government and the Government of Samoa signed minutes of discussion regarding a possible project to construct three primary schools in Lepea, St Therese, and Apia. At that point, a Chinese technical feasibility team had visited Samoa and agreed to plans for the three schools. Then, on October 21, 2019, the Chinese Government and the Government of Samoa signed an exchange of letters, which committed an unspecified amount of grant funding for the St. Therese, Apia and Lepea Primary School Construction Project. In September 2020, Embassy of China Commercial Attache, Zhang Muyue, told a local media outlet in Samoa that the project was still at the design phase and the Chinese Government had selected two organizations to lead the project design and supervision work: China Shanghai Architectural Design and Research Institute Co. Ltd and Guangzhou Suike Construction Management Co. Ltd. Zhang Muyue also noted that ‘[d]ue to the flight suspension caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the designing and supervising teams' business travel from China to Samoa for on-site check [has] been postponed’ and Samoa’s “Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture [had] been facilitating the preparation work.’