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The Minister for Tourism, Viliame Gavoka, has highlighted the first-ever World Bank Multiphase Approach, which will ensure tourism development in Vanua Levu.

This multi-phase approach is a $447 million approach approved by the World Bank in June last year.

Gavoka says this approach will be spread over ten years and divided into three phases.

The first phase will be from year 1 to year 3, phase 2 from year 3 to 6, and the third phase will be from 8 to 10.

He says this program is vital to mobilize investments in resilient infrastructure and essential services and create a more enabling business environment.

The Deputy Prime Minster says the first phase will be for six years, which will set the foundation for sustainable tourism in Vanua Levu; the second phase will put physical and social capital infrastructure in place, and it will build on phase one while the third phase will see longer-term outcomes, such as improved infrastructure connectivity, increased tourism revenue and tourism-related jobs in Vanua Levu.

The tourism minister says that the Ministry of Finance will oversee the programme’s financial management as the Borrower, and the Ministry of Tourism will be the lead

Implementing Agency and coordinating with the other implementing agencies.

Gavoka says that two specialized project-implementing agencies responsible for project implementation are the Fiji Roads Authority and Fiji Airports Limited, which are infrastructure-related organizations.