PRESS RELEASE / 16TH FEBRUARY 2021
On Tuesday, February 16, 2020, the contract for the construction of the main administrative building of the National University of Vanuatu was signed between
Mr. Simeon SEULE, Minister of Education and Training of Vanuatu, and Mr. Brian SALI, general manager of the company Island construction limited in the presence of Mr. Jean-Pierre NIRUA, Vice-Chancellor of the National University of Vanuatu, Mr. Pierre FOURNIER, Ambassador of France in Vanuatu and Mr. Gaston WADRAWANE, delegate for New Caledonia in Vanuatu. The building, which will be delivered in 2022, will contain an amphitheater that can accommodate 100 people, an additional classroom for around 40 students, a reception, a small cafeteria and the administration offices of the National University of Vanuatu.
As of December 2017, the co-financing arrangement had been secured by the government of New Caledonia for 38,000,000 VT, France through the French Development Agency (AFD) granted for an amount of 83,500,000 VT, and the Government of Vanuatu for 35 million VT.
The project is the result of joint efforts carried out for several years between the Government of Vanuatu, the Government of New Caledonia and the French Embassy in Vanuatu, the Agence universitaire de la Francophonie, the University of New Caledonia, the UT1 Capitole University, as well as UT2 Jean-Jaurès University, Taylor's University (Malaysia) and Victoria University (New Zealand) to support Vanuatu in the development of bilingual higher education on the one hand, and support for the structuring of the National University of Vanuatu, recently created by the Act n°34 of December 2019, on the other hand.
The National University of Vanuatu will be able to rely on this new structure to meet the growing demand for enrollment from Ni-Vanuatu students and calmly provide bilingual higher education that meets the country's needs for this youth who constitute the future national elite.
The project is part of phase 1 of construction of the National University of Vanuatu which will soon be followed by other phases to provide the establishment in particular with additional infrastructure including equipment for science education, training and research.
In this context, the French Development Agency will continue to provide its valuable support for the regional integration of New Caledonia through its cooperation with the Government of Vanuatu and the University of Vanuatu in the field of higher education.