Gov. Neil Abercrombie and Secretary General Xu Hubin of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade sign a Memorandum of Understanding signifying the partnership to start a clean energy investment and deployment program in Hawaii. (Photo courtesy of the Governor’s Office)

MEDIA RELEASE

Gov. Neil Abercrombie and Secretary General Xu Hubin of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) on Monday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signifying the partnership to start a clean energy investment and deployment program in Hawaii.

The program will allow CCPIT to refer interested Chinese clean energy investors and developers to the Hawaii State Energy Office in the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT) to facilitate the matchmaking process with clean energy project partners in Hawaii in need of capital or development partners.

This definitive MOU follows the Letter of Intent (LOI) signed by Abercrombie and Yu Ping, Vice Chairman of CCPIT, last November at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Hawaii-China CEO Forum, “Transforming to Clean Energy.”

The letter stated, “there was invoked a spirit of collaboration between China and Hawaii on clean energy development efforts, as passionately presented by esteemed panelists from Hawaii and China.”

“That spirit of collaboration initiated during APEC continues today with a common goal,” Abercrombie said. “Hawaii’s expansive mix of renewable energy resources, coupled with our aggressive approach to achieve energy sufficiency, is attracting­ these kinds of global partnerships for clean energy research, development and deployment.”

The signing ceremony took place at the 4th Annual Asia Pacific Clean Energy Summit and Expo at the Hawaii Convention Center. This international summit is being attended by local, national and international participants, including government, private-sector and energy industry leaders and officials from 20 countries.

“Hawaii’s clean energy sector has catapulted over other states when it comes to the development of its clean energy industry,” said Richard Lim, director of DBEDT. “The MOU that sets our program with CCPIT will create an efficient process for foreign investors and developers to partner with clean energy companies here is Hawaii leading to the economic growth of our State.”

Founded in 1952, CCPIT is the official trade organization for Chinese state-owned companies and has 16 Commercial Promotion offices outside China.

Interested clean energy companies in Hawaii may register to begin the matchmaking process with Chinese investors and developers at: energy.hawaii.gov/developer-investor