A “surprise” announcement by the US, Australia, India and Japan to build a port spurred hopes of backing from the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue for a plan to relocate the main dock in Fiji, Fiji Ports acting chief executive officer Suresh Prasad told reporters yesterday.
Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka in 2023 pitched a plan to redevelop his country’s port and ship building industry to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).
About 100 Chinese fishing vessels ply the Pacific Ocean from a base at Suva Port, which also encompasses the country’s navy base and hosts visits from the Yuan Wang 7 (遠望7), a space and missile tracking vessel of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy.
Photo: EPA
Australia sought to block a Chinese port investment by agreeing a year later to work with Fiji on wharf redevelopment, although no commitment was made to move Suva Port.
A meeting of Quad foreign ministers in India on Tuesday said that the US, Australia, India and Japan would partner to build a “model” port project in Fiji.
Prasad told reporters that the Quad announcement had come as a surprise.
The port agency, 41 percent owned by Fiji’s government, had discussed with US officials US$181 million of port upgrades, as well as a US$1.82 billion plan to relocate Suva Port.
US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau met with Fiji Ports executives in February, with more US officials traveling to Fiji last month to discuss ports funding, without confirming which projects the US would back, Prasad said.
“If it’s a Quad project, its going to be a mega project, which is Suva Port most likely,” he said.
Rabuka told parliament on Monday that Fiji had struck a deal for a ports feasibility study with US Millenium Challenge Corp, Washington’s fund issuing grants for infrastructure in poor countries.
Fiji expected to form a funding compact with US Millenium Challenge, Rabuka said, adding that it would involve grants and not loans.
The Pacific nation still owes Chinese state banks US$109 million for road building and other infrastructure projects undertaken a decade ago, official data showed.
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