10 February 2024
Your Excellency Ms Yoko Kamikawa, the Foreign Minister of Japan.
On behalf of the Government and the people of Samoa and the National University of Samoa, I wish to thank the Government and the People of Japan for this generous assistance through the building of a new library and health science facilities for the training of Samoa’s health workers now and into the future.
The National University of Samoa initially requested the Government of Japan to build a Learning Resource Center. The measles epidemic of 2019 to which Japan provided a medical team and the outbreak of COVID 19 soon after, resulted in a shift in priorities towards the training of health workers particularly in the fields of health surveillance, public health, immunization and health promotion.
The Government of Japan agreed to the construction of the Faculty of Health Sciences and a library for the NUS under its Grant aid. The facilities will feature the largest lecture theatre on the campus with 300 seats, five tutorial rooms, simulation and research laboratories, server rooms as well as staff offices.
The Faculty of Health Sciences at the National University of Samoa accounts for 14% of the overall enrolment of about 3,600 per year. It trains an average of 70 registered nurses and 6 medical doctors a year. The National University of Samoa aims to increase its training capacity for more health workers both from Samoa and the Pacific region to address the acute workforce shortages both locally and regionally. There is no doubt the faculty will contribute immensely to improving capacity building for students and staff, teaching infrastructure and student experiences particularly with harnessing technological advances.
The signing of the Exchange of Notes today is another milestone in our strengthened cooperation towards sustainable development.
ENDS.
