Economy Minister Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum says three projects worth $200 million were set to begin in the Lautoka-Nadi corridor.
He said this at a press conference on Monday in Suva where he also announced Australia was looking for chefs in Fiji who had more than three years’ experience.
He said Fijians chefs would have the opportunity to earn salaries in the range of $A80,000 to $A120,000.
Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said there could be a shortage of chefs in Fiji with recruitment agencies from Australia advertising to get chefs from here.
“You may have seen, I think I saw an advertisement where recruitment agents from Australia were advertising looking for chefs, any chef with more than three years’ experience,” he said.
“What it could mean that there could be a shortage of chefs in Fiji.”
Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said they had discussions with the Fiji National University on the types of course that could quickly be offered to upskill Fijians.
“So we had discussions on the weekend with the Fiji National University to look at what type of courses in an expedited fashion we can offer to our people, so they can also became trained and be able to provide services.”
He said there are also three projects on foot at the moment between Lautoka and Nadi.
“About $200 million worth of construction that is about to start.
“That will require a lot of people to work on the construction site, that will require a lot of expertise and we need to have that level of expertise and train people to be able to ensure that those projects, those constructions are actually delivered on time.
“So there is a lot of movement which we’ve seen in the region.
“We’ve also seen that there’s a shortage of labour in Australia too.
“A lot of people are getting recruited, not just for the fruit picking but also in the aged care services too. So there’s loads of dynamics in play.”