19 Jan 2018

American Samoa Tafuna project canned

8:57 am on 19 January 2018

The American Samoa government's plans to set up a multi-line food processing plant at the Tafuna Industrial Park "have come to a close", after efforts to attract investors failed.

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Photo: 123RF

AVM had proposed to invest $US106 million to set up the processing plant, with the first phase of the project being the juice line, and the second phase being fish-based processing - targeting the US market.

The project broke ground in January 2016 promising to provide up to 800 jobs once fully operational.

But there have been setbacks, with the company seeking new investors after the initial one pulled out.

This week the Commerce Department announced the end of the project lead by AVM owner Anthony Bernardo, who was tasked with identifying financing to construct the plant and a third-party operator to lease and operate the plant.

While Mr Bernardo had identified an investor, which led to the ground breaking, the investor then decided to focus on the growth and development of their current business operation in the Philippines and the US.

Commerce director Keniseli Lafaele said after the initial investor opted out, the government gave Mr Bernardo the opportunity to seek other partners but those efforts were unsuccessful.

Mr Lafaele said American Samoa remained the gateway to the US market for the region and sourcing raw materials, whether it is fish or produce, and processing or adding value to raw material in American Samoa made the goods eligible for export into the US market tax-free.

He said the government remained optimistic about this competitive advantage.

Turning the ground at the future food processing plant in Pago Pago

Turning the ground at the future food processing plant in Pago Pago Photo: Monica Miller

While American Samoa still had challenges to deal with like the minimum wage, he said access to the US market tax-free remained a tremendous opportunity for the right entrepreneurs and project.

The government is now moving forward with evaluating potential candidates for the lot at the Tafuna Industrial Park.

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