Maru asks for fairer treatment

THE Government has raised its concern with New Zealand on the low number of Papua New Guinea seasonal workers it employs compared to Vanuatu.
International Trade and Investment Minister Richard Maru told Agriculture, Hunting, Fishing, Forestry and Trade Todd McClay: “This is a serious concern to us because we think that PNG is a far more important partner to New Zealand in terms of trade volume, but the numbers do not add up.”
Maru, who recently held trade talks with NZ ministersin Wellington, said PNG had only 400 workers employed under NZ’s regional seasonal employer (RSE) scheme while Vanuatu had 6,000.
“We only have 400 people employed in New Zealand under the RSE scheme, but the demand is so high as we have over 30,000 young people coming out of Grade 12 every year,” he said.
“Australia has introduced a new programme under which they not only employ farm workers but also skilled workers who are offered contracts of up to four years.
“That for us is better because they mentor them and develop them with skills that they can return with to PNG.”
Maru said there was a good feedback from the farms in New Zealand on how the Papua New Guinean employees were doing.
He also invited potential New Zealand investors to invest in the Special Economic Zones in PNG.
“We need industries that New Zealand is renowned for, like poultry, dairy, and aquaculture. Poultry is one of the areas that we are seriously looking at because we do not want to continue to import K100 million worth of chicken every year,” he said.