New policy

Minister for National Planning and Monitoring, Richard Maru, says the new policy is being written to complement the goals of the ambitious MTDP III.

This is one of the avenues the government will use to fund the major projects outlined in the MTDP III.

“We have decided to write a new policy for our donor partners which now require that 50 per cent of all donor aid must go for infrastructure development. Actual roads, actual bridges, actual schools.

Called Aid Management and Development Cooperation Policy, the Ministry of Development Planning and Aid Coordination, in consultation with other stakeholders, produced the document.

Sogavare said foreign aid to Solomon Islands is relative large and is a major source of funding for development.

“In 2015, the total aid reported was approximately $1.1 billion (US$123 million), funded by bilateral and multilateral development partners,” Sogavare said.

“This made up approximately 68 per cent of the development expenditure in 2015,” he added.