World Bank & Samoa priorities: Deputy Prime Minister/Finance Minister Mulipola Anarosa Ale Molioo met World Bank Division Director Tatiana Proskuryakova to review Samoa’s development priorities, World Bank project progress, and implementation hurdles, including the Samoa Climate Resilient Transport Project aimed at strengthening road resilience and emergency response (closing 31 March 2027). El Niño & water risk: Samoa’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment says El Niño is already bringing below-normal rainfall, with a 60–70% chance of drier conditions to Jan 2027, raising pressure on water supplies, farming, livestock, health, and wildfire risk. Agriculture science (USP): A USP PhD candidate is studying how Fiji’s ant-plant farming system works—ants cultivate plants and use antibiotic-producing bacteria to suppress disease—potentially opening new paths for sustainable agriculture across Samoa and the Pacific. Energy skills partnership: Eaton and Singapore Polytechnic signed an MoU to build industry-aligned training for next-gen power infrastructure, including 800VDC systems for AI-ready data centres. Food trade pressure (regional): Fiji’s food import bill hit about $1.106b in 2023 versus $343.4m exports, underscoring the wider Pacific push to reduce reliance on imported food. ICT jobs push (regional): Fiji targets 40,000 ICT jobs over five years alongside cybersecurity and digital identity/data protection reforms. Samoa in the arts: Samoa Mo Samoa won Best Pacific Music Video at the Pacific Music Awards, highlighting local creative industry momentum.