The Minister for International Trade and Investment, Richard Maru, is in Sri Lanka to gain insight on the downstream processing of coconut products and also what a Sri Lankan company plans to do in Papua New Guinea (PNG).
He will be visiting the world-class operations of a Sri Lankan large-scale coconut-based food and beverages manufacturer/exporter, Jaindi Exports Pvt Limited.
Jaindi Exports had recently expressed their keen interest in setting up a coconut processing plant in Madang Province under a joint venture arrangement with the local investors.
Minister Maru said: “Our Government, together with the Madang Provincial Government are very keen to work in partnership with Jaindi Exports and KIK to develop the proposed processing plant in Madang that would have the capacity to process up to 100,000 coconuts per day to produce high-end coconut products.
“This is a long overdue initiative, and I am so delighted that they are keen to start this project. I am so excited that after 50 years of independence, we will finally go into downstream processing of our coconuts to produce high-end products for the global market.”
“The coconut industry is one of the industries in our country that has been around for a long time, but we have been semi-processing. We now want to process our coconuts into final products to maximize our value, create more jobs, and encourage the industry to grow if our people can see a better value.”
Minister Maru said an independent financial evaluation of the investment proposal for a ten-year period will be conducted within two weeks after the visit to prove the viability of the project before a submission is made to the National Executive Council (NEC) for the approval of this project to be located within the Madang Integrated Special Economic Zone (SEZ).
Meanwhile, Minister Maru is working very closely with Madang Provincial Government to secure 10 hectares of land in Madang for this very important investment that will transform the coconut industry in PNG. Governor Pariwa said he was very keen and excited to see this project get off the ground as soon as practical.
The minister is accompanied by the Governor for Madang, Ramsey Pariwa, Secretary for Department of International Trade and Investment, Mrs. Jacinta Warakai-Manua, and Managing Director for Kokonas Koporesen Indastri, Mr. Alan Aku, on this trip.
