The Minister for International Trade and Investment, Hon. Richard Maru, on 3 February paid a courtesy visit to fishing companies in Lae, Morobe Province, to outline the Government’s strategic direction for the fisheries industry of Papua New Guinea (PNG).
During the visit, Minister Maru met with management and staff of Frabelle PNG Limited, Majestic Seafood Corporation Limited, and Nambawan Seafoods Limited, stressing the need to expand domestic processing capacity and reduce reliance on imported fish products.
“As a Government, we are very keen to grow the fisheries industry in PNG. About 80 percent of the 550,000 metric tons of fish caught in PNG waters is not being processed in the country and we import approximately UD$36 million worth of processed fish. This is unacceptable. We cannot continue to allow this. We want our own industry to supply the market," he said.
Maru said that the Government has made a decision to start PMIZ under the name Madang Integrated Special Economic Zone (MISEZ), specifically for the fisheries sector.
"This is the strategic direction of the Government,” said Minister Maru.
"We want to build ten new canneries and processing plants in this SEZ, apart from the first one that we will launch next month. The intention is to have the processing capacity in county to process all catch for every licensed boat that operates within our waters. We want the industry to focus on supplying the domestic market first before exporting," he added.
In the lead-up to the launch next month of a Joint Venture (JV) cannery between the State and RD Corporation in Madang, the Minister invited the Lae-based companies to consider expanding their operations to the proposed MISEZ.
“RD is the first company we are partnering with to build the first cannery in the MISEZ. This cannery is separate from RD’s current operations. The vision of the Government is to provide land to other investors across the Pacific to build their canneries in this proposed SEZ," he said.
"However, before we talk to other investors, it is only right that we should do justice to the existing investors in the industry by meeting with them and informing them of this opportunity. We have to recognize the companies who took the risk and invested without incentives. We want to give them first priority as we plan to have only ten canneries in the MISEZ,” he said.
Minister Maru also expressed appreciation to the companies for their long-standing commitment to the country and their contribution to employment and revenue.
“You are very important players in the industry. We appreciate you and thank you very much for the confidence you’ve shown to invest in this country, for paying taxes, and creating jobs for our people. You all have operated over a decade or two in PNG and understand our industry and the challenges of doing business in PNG. You have grown roots and you should consider expanding your operations as part of your vision for the future. We understand that you are constrained by land to expand your operations in Lae so we are giving you the chance to expand instead to Madang so you can benefit from the SEZ incentives.”
The Minister acknowledged that significant challenges remained and said the Government was committed to addressing them to attract investment into the MISEZ.
“We will work with the private sector to provide independent power supply, water supply, sewerage system, a port and other enabling infrastructure to attract the investors,” said Minister Maru.
