Lae: New hotspot for investment

 LAE IN PERSPECTIVE By CLEMENT KAUPA

IT was Queen’s Birthday on Monday but the residents and locals of Lae city had reasons closer to home to celebrate along with the venerated lady and those in the old country two oceans away.

They were presented with two multi-million kina tuna processing facilities, one now in operation and the other in the works with construction to begin in earnest in the coming weeks and months.  

Majestic Seafood and Nambawan Seafood represent a capital investment of close to K150 million, which should cause a notable outward shift to the city’s industrial parameters.  

These investments will also make a significant capital injection into Lae’s economy via 7,000 new jobs and a large support sector involving shipping, stevedoring and transport businesses in the decades ahead.

To accurately gauge their magnitude, a major partner in Majestic Seafood said the cannery would process 30,000 metric tonnes of tuna annually to produce 1.5 million cases of canned tuna for export in the first two years of operation.

Nambawan Seafood, which a joint venture company representative estimated would be constructed at a cost of K45-K50 million on an adjacent block to the existing facility, is anticipated to match these figures. 

“We are ready to report for duty,” Dexter Ty, a representative of TSP, one of two Philippine companies in a joint venture with a Taiwan entity in the new venture, declared.

“The sky is the limit,” Morobe Governor Kelly Naru said during a ground-breaking ceremony for Nambawan Seafood that coincided with the opening of Majestic Seafood. 

“Japan and Korea are also in the queue and knocking at the door to come to Morobe. 

“We welcome you all to come and do business in the ‘nation within the nation,’” Naru declared. 

Though considered impromptu at the time, these statements now denote a sense of urgency and buoyancy which underline an improved investment climate in the industrial hub of PNG.

Prime Minister Peter O’Neill acknowledged this fact on Monday when he said Lae city’s infrastructure must be upgraded to accommodate its booming business and industrial sectors.

“Good infrastructure stimulates growth and attracts more investment,” O’Neill said at the opening of the Majestic Seafood factory, a fully integrated facility constructed at the cost of more than K70 million at Malahang.   

Lae city roads being the immediate priority, O’Neill promised the people of Lae and Morobe on Monday that more money wouldbe pumped into the urban roads rehabilitation programme later this month.

A proposed four-lane road for Nadzab remains viable, with O’Neill promising an international terminal at Nadzab Airport, implying direct overseas flights into Lae rather than via Port Moresby. A township is also being courted for Nadzab but landownership issues continue to obstruct and frustrate negotiations. 

Though much improved in recent times, O’Neill still saw a need for a cheaper and reliable power source as an alternative to the electricity provided by PNG Power Ltd.

“We have to eliminate the constant blackouts in this city and offer our investors an alternative power source that is cheaper and reliable,” O’Neill stated, hinting at a new power arrangement for Lae.

This was confirmed by an official of a Philippine company with diverse business interests that includes providing electricity. 

The official revealed that his company had been shortlisted by the Government to provide alternative electricity for Lae.  

These open acknowledgements by the political leadership and investors consolidate Lae’s position as the investment hotspot in the country.