Finance and high taxes, according to PNG Manufacturers Council chief executive officer Chey Scovell, are two of the most pressing problems in the downstream production of PNG goods.
According to Scovell, downstream processing is a capital-intensive industry that requires a large sum of money.
He also suggested that the government consider lowering corporate and goods and services taxes.
Scovell said that good road connectivity should be a government priority, as this would allow goods to be shipped quickly and efficiently.
He said that the new government freight subsidy was unsustainable and that it was incentivizing people to rob from coffee and cocoa plantations in order to take advantage of the subsidy to export and sell their produce.
Prime Minister James Marape, who paid a visit to Paradise Foods Ltd's Queen Emma chocolate factory, urged businesses to expand into downstream manufacturing to support the economy and domestic industry.
According to Marape, the firm also imports corn for some of its goods, which he claims could be supplied locally.
“This factory needs (local) corn,” he said. “I just came out of a processing line that is importing corn. We can grow corn in PNG.”
Marape was ecstatic to see the company innovate, create opportunities, and concentrate production locally.
He said that the Queen Emma chocolate production demonstrated the country's ability to transition from selling raw materials to producing value-added goods.
“We want to go downstream to certify our local market, as well as export to economies around us,” he said. “I am happy to see an industry that has been in existence outside of political motivation and incentives. They have been at work since 1945. I am totally overwhelmed. And if there is any way that the Government can assist with fiscal support in these tough times.”
