2 Mar 2006

Vanuatu finalises record aid deal with US for US$69m

4:37 pm on 2 March 2006

Vanuatu's prime minister, Ham Lini, will today sign the compact agreement the Millennium Challenge Corporation for Vanuatu to be given 69 million US dollars to fund major infrastructure projects.

The deal will also be signed by Charles Sethness who is the vice president of the department of accountability of the Millennium Challenge Corporation.

A ten-member US delegation led by US ambassador, Robert Fitts, and Mr Sethness arrived in Port Vila earlier today for the signing ceremony.

Vanuatu is the only country in the Pacific to be nominated by the US government to have access to the fund.

The finance minister, Willie Jimmy, says this is the biggest lump sum of aid money ever made available to Vanuatu.