A Professor of Economics at the University of the South Pacific says it's too early to say if mining will overtake tourism as Fiji's highest earning sector.
The Chief Executive Officer of Investment Fiji, Ravuni Uluilakeba, told Fiji Village mining is slow at the moment, but he believes it will overtake the almost 980 million dollar tourism sector in two to three years.
But Professor Biman Prasad, from the University's School of Economics, says the income from mining could be significant but it will be some time before the big benefits are seen.
"I think it could be a much longer period before we can talk about the mining sector overtaking tourism. Largely because we need to look at how the new investments in copper mining and the expansion off bauxite mining will take place over the next one or two years."
Biman Prasad says extra investment will also need to be attracted.
