Government reviewing fishing agreements, PM says

THE Government is reviewing all agreements with fishing companies in the country so they have fish processed in the country, Prime Minister Peter O’Neill says.
Speaking at the Australia-PNG Business Forum and Trade Expo in Port Moresby yesterday, O’Neill said PNG’s fisheries sector offers great potential for the country.
“Many marine resource that is caught in Papua New Guinea waters must be processed in Papua New Guinea,” he said.
“In a recent independent report, less than 25 per cent caught in PNG waters are being processed in Papua New Guinea.
“This is a loss of K350 million a year for PNG and of course over K500 million of missed taxes.”
He said the Government was reviewing all the agreements with the fishing companies and processing companies to ensure they “comply with the agreements”.
“Our plan is to ensure that all the fish caught in Papua New Guinea must be processed in Papua New Guinea,” he said.
“Or at the very least, processed onshore and exported for Papua New Guinean.”
He said the country’s tuna processing capacity was increasing,
“We are now in a position to ensure that all tuna caught in Papua New Guinea is landed onshore,” he said.
“We will ensure that Papua New Guineans get the value-added opportunity to earn more and have the opportunity in fish caught in our waters.”