Potential scale of investment that will reshape and rebuild our economy is very high – Rabuka

Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka says the potential scale of investment that will reshape and rebuild our economy to benefit everyone, is very high.

In his New Year’s message, Rabuka says Investment Fiji reports a large number of planned, renovated and new projects and some of them are well underway, which include real estate developments and apartments, a business park, six shopping malls, hardware industry expansion, office buildings, restaurants, agriculture, aviation, and a mining venture dedicated to responsible resource extraction.

Rabuka says people will agree that Fiji is on the verge of what might become an investment boom, however, Fiji needs to make absolutely sure that investment approval processes are operating as efficiently as possible.

He further says tourism, which is the centrepiece of the economy, is surging and current estimates indicate the industry employs about 110,000 people.

Rabuka says the figures are expected to grow when more rooms are available.

The Prime Minister says this year, annual visitor totals for the first time might surpass one million but the big challenge is to meet a shortage of about 5,000 rooms.

He adds investors have seen the opportunities and currently there are at least eight significant hotel and resort projects underway with more on the drawing board.