Vanuatu is a small island nation in the South Pacific comprised of 83 separate islands where approximately half of the population lives in poverty. Costly and unreliable transportation is a major impediment to economic growth and poverty reduction in Vanuatu. As a small, open, island economy, agriculture and tourism are central to Vanuatu's growth. These two sectors together employ more than 70 percent of Vanuatu's working population and represent approximately 34 percent of Vanuatu's gross domestic product.<br/>The transport infrastructure sub-projects included in the final MCA Compact proposal were identified through previous local-level stakeholder consultation forums in each of the six provinces;
However due to various unforeseen economic circumstances the scope of work has been reduces to funding only two road projects on the two main islands namely; Efate and Santo.

The six provinces:

• Torba Province
• Sanma Province
• Penama Province
• Malampa Province
• Shefa Province
• Tafea Province