Marape plans to show Xi rice, mushroom samples

PRIME Minister James Marape says samples of rice and mushrooms produced through the Juncao technology project in Eastern Highlands will be presented to Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Marape was invited by Xi to the Winter Olympics in Beijing and the delegation, which included Eastern Highlands Governor Peter Numu, left yesterday.
Marape said Papua New Guinea did not have a team at the Winter Olympics but the Government was using the opportunity to talk about business and the downstream processing of PNG products.
“The present president of China, when he was the governor for Fujian province, signed an undertaking with Peti Lafanama (former EHP governor) for a province to province relationship in 1997,” Marape explained.
“The legacy of that is the Juncao technology project in Goroka that produces rice and mushrooms.
“We are bringing back samples to President Xi.
“We are now inviting your producers in rice, fisheries forestry come to the downstream processing sector.”
Marape said the Government wanted investors to invest in the downstream sector and not to compete with the existing raw material suppliers and traders.
He said Numu would participate in talks to bring coffee processors into establishing facilities in the province and other parts of the country where coffee was dominant.
“We also have Fisheries Minister (Dr Lino Tom) and Manus Governor (Charlie Benjamin) as a strong proponents of fishing,” he said.
“The East Sepik Governor (Allan Bird) would have joined us but he missed the flight (yesterday).
“There’s a lot of Sepik plain out there and we are looking at investors for cattle and rice.
“I think our country has the potential and we are moving in that space.”