Coconut industry can boost economy with K500mil: Official

THE coconut industry can be a major economic contributor generating up to K500 million annually, says Kokonas Indastri Koporesen (KIK) acting managing director Alan Aku.
Aku said this when announcing the dates of the inaugural National Coconut Festival in Port Moresby at the Sir John Guise Indoor Complex from Sept 26-28.
He said coconut was the fourth most important commodity in the country that generated K127 million in revenue from exports annually and an estimated K381 million from local trade.
“The coconut contributes K126.5 million annually in terms of export revenue to the PNG economy,” Aku said.
“But we continue to forget that coconut trade in the domestic market is a big industry and we estimate that 381 million nuts are consumed in this country on an annual basis.
“The price range for a coconut ranges between K0.50 toea and five kina so if you put the kina against what we consume in this country which is 381 million nuts, you will get an estimated K381 million in revenue generated in the domestic market.
“If you add the annual export revenue of K126.5 million and K381 million, you are looking at a K500 million industry in this country.
“It affects 35 per cent of the total households in the country estimated at 6.2 million people who are involved in using coconuts.”
Aku said the coconut industry was a big sector that could not be continuously overlooked and so the first ever coconut festival this month would look to promote the industry.
“We need to promote the potential and benefits of the coconut so that people who look after this commodity to make ends meet can have better income opportunities.”
He said the festival would showcase different speakers, Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) who were involved in producing coconut products and also investors would exhibit their products.