News Brief from Fiji

Sydney Olympic Games glamour girl Cathy Freeman is willing to give advice to Fiji's athletes before they compete in world championships. Now retired from the international arena, Freeman arrived into the country yesterday and will be at the FMF Dome tonight as chief guest for the Fiji Sports Awards. In her first visit to Fiji, Freeman said she was willing to assist Fiji athletes before big events like the Commonwealth Games, the World Games and the Olympics. She added that there was a network of people in Australia who were more than willing to help Fiji's athletes. (FT)

There would be more jobs available next year as investment levels is expected to increase, says the Finance Minister Ratu Jone Kubuabola in Parliament on Wednesday. He said the incentives in the 2006 Budget would ensure that other industries like forestry, fisheries and agriculture could experience an increase in investment next year. Ratu Jone is positive about the job market as investment level now stands at 17 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product, a marked improvement from the average 13 per cent of GDP in the last ten years. (FT)

A third and upgraded version of the Fiji Visitors Bureau website ‘www.bulafiji.com’ was launched by the bureau’s chief executive Viliame Gavoka yesterday. “The new website was not only user-friendly, but provided information about all aspects of its tourism industry to make it easy for consumers to book their vacation,” said Mr Gavoka. He said there were plans to have an automatic translator to translate the English-written information on the website into Japanese, Chinese, Spanish and Korean language. “Once the information on the website is translated in the different languages, there would be no need for us to print brochures in different languages,” he said. (FT)

Minister for Education Ro Teimumu Kepa will sign a memorandum of understanding with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese on the Corpus Christi Teachers College (CCTC). The submission was made by Ro Teimumu who explained that it would formalize and enhance partnership in education matters between the ministry and the Catholic Archdiocese. “The MOU sets out that the Ministry of Education will employ all 20 government-sponsored graduates of CCTC in the first instance to substantive vacancies exist, that it employs the remaining graduates of CCTC in other schools,” Ro Teimumu said. (FS)

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