New stamps for oil palm

A SET of postage stamps celebrating Papua New Guinea’s oil palm industry was launched by Post PNG yesterday.
The four stamps of 85t, K3, K3.70 and K6 denominations feature various aspects of the industry.
It was launched by Post PNG managing director Peter Maiden, who said that the oil palm industry, like any other industry, had made great contribution to PNG and global economy recently.
Mr Maiden told industry top shots who were at the launch that Post PNG was happy to feature the industry.
The special-featured stamps would be used for domestic and international mail and would also be collected by philatelist worldwide, he said.
The designs cover the main oil palm stages, of nursery, planting, irrigation, the fruit lets, bunches, loose fruits, collections and the milling.
PNG stamps, being among the world’s most beautiful and colourful, are a rare collection for many stamp collectors and the latest inclusion would be an excellent promotion for the oil palm industry.
The launching of the stamps was timely and signified an important change in the agricultural industry in PNG.
Agriculture is an important industry, and must continue to be developed; the Government is doing a good job but needs more effort to be put in, particularly in the rural locations.
The oil palm industry is not only growing faster, but it is a big export earner, exporting up to K800million of the K2.5 billion gross that agriculture generates in to the economy.
Postage stamps are unique as they are a country’s paper “ambassadors”, or for marketing and promotional tools of topics being featured, used by nations to portray the status, history, culture, topography, fauna and flora, successes, industries and tourist appeals.
Present during the launching were Oil Palm and Ramu Agriculture Industries general manager Joe Castle, PNG Oil Palm Industry Corporation chairman Brown Bai and PNG Oil Palm Industry general secretary Felix Bakani.