NFA: Fisheries promoting trade

 A SECTOR which has been maintaining trade relations between Papua New Guinea and the Philippines over the many years is fisheries, an official says.

National Fisheries Authority project analyst Mark Ivekolia said the potential for spin-offs as a result of the trading relations was plenty. 

“One of the industries that has been keeping the PNG-Philippines trade relations for the past 20 years has been fisheries,” he said. He was addressing a delegation from the Philippine Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Port Moresby.

Ivekolia said the industry was growing.  

“We not only have the growing tuna industry,” Ivekolia said. 

“We have other spin-off benefits as well as other business opportunities arising. We have potential for fish meal production, aquaculture in terms of fish farming. We have a good number of fishing fleets which are licensed by our regional bodies as well as the NFA and also have an increasing demand for ship repairs.

“We also have dockyards for purse seiners’ operators, and also fishing infrastructure and public utilities. I refer to power supply, water supply at fisheries wharves.”

Ivekolia said the NFA had extended an invitation to potential investors to partner with the Government on the K540 million Wagang Fisheries Wharf Project in Lae. He said the project was to cater for the growing tuna industry in the country.

“The rationale for that project is that due to the growing tuna industry and the congestion at the Lae wharf, which is very busy and priority given general cargo vessels, we decided to build fisheries wharf.”