Japan’s Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi attended the grand opening ceremony of the Palau International Airport terminal on Sunday, after making a short stop from his visit to the south Pacific region.
The new Palau International Airport Terminal was constructed through the “Renovation, Expansion, and Management of Palau International Airport Project”, the first public-private partnership (PPP) project in Palau and in the Pacific between Japan corporations and Palau government.
President Surangel Whipps Jr. said the airport renovation is a public-private partnership (PPP) project supported by Japan.
With the increase in the number of tourists, the previous administration of Tommy Remengesau Jr. saw the need to overhaul the airport’s facilities. The project involved the construction of a new departure terminal building and renovation of the existing terminal building, which will now be used for arrivals.
The cost of the entire project was approximately 40 million dollars.
The project was through the partnership with Sojitz Corporation, Japan Airport Terminal Co., Ltd. (JATCO) operator of Haneda Airport, Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment Corporation for Transport & Urban Development (JOIN) and Palau government.
The airport expansion and renovation work were carried out by Taisei Corporation, the contractor for the project.
The improvement project was originally scheduled to be finished by mid-2020, however, the global pandemic and travel restrictions caused delays and was completed and went into partial service in December of 2021.
Minister Hayashi thanked Palau for its continuing ties with Japan and the airport improvement is an example of that strong relationship. (Island Times)