The Simbu provincial government is ready to move forward with the development of the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Karamui after reaffirming its commitment to work with the Department of International Trade and Investment to get the project off the ground.
That commitment was in the form of K1million presented to the department during the inaugural SEZ Summit held in Port Moresby this week.
Simbu Governor Noah Kool said the funding is from the provincial government because they want to see this happen for the province.
“We want this to happen that’s why we got the landowners of Karamui, the district administration, the provincial administration, and the members involved,” said the governor.
The Vice Minister Assisting the Prime Minister and Member for Chuave James Nomane, said that the K1million from the Simbu provincial government through the Ministry of International Trade and Investment, is for the feasibility study for Karamui SEZ.
“This money is for us to shortlist the firm that will go in there and undertake the feasibility study to tell us exactly what crop will bring the biggest value for money, will grow well in Karamui, and that would directly impact the internal revenue in Simbu.”
Meanwhile, the Principal Advisor for Agriculture Simbu Mr. Eric Gore said the SEZ project should also bring in a lot more other services like roads into Karamui, which would make the SEZ a success.
“Karamui is located south of Kundiawa town, it’s a fly in and fly out zone because there is no road link connecting Karamui LLG to the headquarters of Simbu province,” said Mr. Gore.