The Australia Pacific Technical Colleges set up in Fiji, Samoa, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu are well on their way to reaching a target of training 3,000 Pacific Islanders by the end of their first four years.
The Pacnews agency reports the general manager of the APTC, Antoine Baraart, saying the four campuses have, in less than a year, graduated 176 students with internationally recognised Australian qualifications.
He says they are well placed to reach their target of 3000 by 2011.
The first lot of APTC students have graduated from its tourism and hospitality school and others have completed courses in automotive, construction, electrical and manufacturing training.
1,045 students are presently enrolled at the colleges, for which the Australian Government is providing 121 million US dollars.