Posted on: Tuesday, March 30, 2004

Pacific islands program gets $231,120

Advertiser Staff

The Japanese government has made a grant to the East-West Center's Pacific Islands Development Program to finance research, training and other programs to improve the lives of Pacific islanders.

Makoto Hinei, senior consul at the Consulate of Japan in Hawai'i, presented a check for $231,120 to the program, bringing to $3.9 million the amount Japan has given the East-West Center since 1978.

Hinei presented the check to Roland Lagareta, chairman of the East-West Center's board of governors.

The Pacific Islands Development Program works directly with the heads of government in the Pacific on education and training activities. It is the research and training arm and the secretariat of the Pacific Islands Conference of Leaders, which represents 22 Pacific island nations.

Through the program, Japan has financed scholarships, computers, research on tuna management and training for policy makers.