SUVA, May 28 (Xinhua) -- The Fijian government stressed here on Tuesday the importance of the cultural sector, saying that the government will work towards developing frameworks and effective policies that will further enhance the cultural sector.

"The government will work towards developing frameworks and effective policies that will further enhance the cultural sector. Budgetary provisions will ensure that artists such as yourselves continue to thrive in the work that you do thus contributing to economic sustainability and empowerment," Fiji's Minister for Education, Heritage and Arts Rosy Akbar said at the Fiji Arts Council Entrepreneurship workshop held in the capital Suva on Tuesday.

Akbar said that the Fijian government will continue to collaborate with statutory bodies such as the Fiji Arts Council through the Department of Heritage and Arts to deliver key deliverables that contribute to the economic growth of the country.

The minister added that the cultural sector has untapped potential to create employment opportunities, reduce poverty, enhance well-being and livelihood, minimize social problems such as juvenile delinquency, and reduce disparity in earning power of the Fijian women. Enditem