Tahiti team off to China for more talks on Hao plans

5:44 am on 11 March 2019
Fish farm project launched in Hao, French Polynesia

Fish farm project launched in Hao, French Polynesia Photo: supplied

The French Polynesian government says a delegation will fly to China this week for talks to advance plans for a large fish farm on Hao atoll.

A Chinese company Tahiti Nui Ocean Foods has a permit to build and operate the largest fish farm in the South Pacific but the project keeps being altered and has fallen behind schedule.

Amid disquiet about the delays, the president Edouard Fritch held a conference call with the head of the Chinese company Wang Chen after which he told local television in Tahiti that technical issues could be discussed in Shanghai at the end of the week.

Last week, the vice president Teva Rohfritsch said the government had done its part by clearing the area near the atoll's runway for the $US320 million project.

He said it was now time to get things going.

The project has been expected to create hundreds of jobs to help lower French Polynesia's unemployment.

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