Beijing, 27 September 2024 – On September 27th, Ambassador Barrett Salato met with Ms. Wei Xiaowei, Director General of International Cooperation of the National Energy Administration of China (NEA), who paid a courtesy visit to the Solomon Islands Embassy in Beijing. The two sides exchanged views on Solomon Islands-China bilateral cooperation on renewable energy, the challenges, and solutions.
Ambassador Salato stressed that Solomon Islands has lots of potential in renewable energy and highlighted a Renewables Readiness Assessment (RRA) Solomon Islands which was done by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) in collaboration with the Ministry of Mines, Energy and Rural Electrification (MMERE) early this year. He further added that, Solomon Islands will pursue energy cooperation with China, since the latter has the technologies, equipment and solutions to address the challenges in the country’s energy sector.
Ambassador Salato also pointed out the need for flexible and viable energy financing options for small country like Solomon Islands in order to fully benefit from advances in renewable energy technology under the Belt and Road arrangement.
The Director General, Ms. Wei also briefed Ambassador Salato on the work of the National Energy Administration of China and acknowledged the challenges faced by Solomon
Islands. She further introduced the Belt and Road Energy Partnership and warmly welcome Solomon Islands to be a member state.
The meeting ended with both sides stressing the need to work actively to advance bilateral practical cooperation and substantiate the Solomon Islands and China strategic partnership in the energy sector.