PBF Agro Ltd’s big plans

AS WAS recently reported in the Weekender, the famous Koitaki land in the Sogeri Valley of Central can be turned into a food park that to supply the local and export markets.
Pacific Balanced Fund through its wholly-owned agriculture firm, PBF Agro Business Limited is spearheading plans to transform the more than 5,000 hectares of land into a viable agri-business venture that can also be replicated elsewhere in the country in State land.
We spoke to PBF Agro Business Ltd general manager/CEO Jerry Kootz Simon about proposed Koitaki Food Park.

Weekender: Firstly, how did you land the job of CEO of this new venture?
Simon: I was the acting general manager Investments for Pacific Balanced Fund (PBF) before being appointed to PBF Agro Business Ltd as the founding CEO in 2016 based on the strategic review undertaken by the board to grow the fund further and agriculture was one of the key areas identified, given the enormous potential PNG has.
In total I have over 10 years work experience in the private sector. That includes close to eight years with PBF. I was also a board director in a multi-national and international investee company. These experiences are backed up by my qualifications in Masters in Business Administration (MBA) and a post-graduate diploma obtained at the University of South Pacific (USP), Suva and a first degree at UPNG. I am a graduate of Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) PNG Directors Course as well as various fund management and private equity training undertaken in Fiji and Singapore.

Weekender: Explain the structure of PBF Agro Business Ltd and its shareholding.
Simon: PBF Agro Business Ltd is 100 per cent owned and controlled by Pacific Balanced Fund (PBF) in the initial years but plans are underway to list the company on stock exchange (Pomsox) and float the shares to the public so Papua New Guineans can participate in the enormous agricultural potential of this country.

Weekender: Is there any existing agri-business that PBF Agro Business owns and operates in the country?
Simon: PBF Agro owns around 1 per cent in NGIP Agmark, a diversified agribusiness company and the largest cocoa exporter in PNG.

Weekender: The Koitaki land has changed hands over the years and we understand there is some controversy around it at the moment. A local association, Dauri Landowner Association claims there is court standing case over ownership of the land. The association claims that the 99-year State lease of Koitaki had expired on July 11, 2006 and the land should be handed back to the traditional owning clans. What does PBF Agro say to that?
Simon: There is no court case that I am aware of and I can now dispel these rumours and controversy once and for all. To the best of my knowledge, Melanesian Trustee Services Ltd in trust for Pacific Balanced Fund (PBF) owns the title of the entire estate with a clear title. We have strong community activities on the ground and all of the clans and respective ILGs (including the Dauri Incorporated Landowner Group) identified and legally incorporated during our recent socio-economic impact assessment (SIA) , who are working with us to establish the Agro Food Park, which will benefit them (including the Dauri Association) now and into the future.
We have existing businesses operating there at Koitaki and around the proposed Koitaki Agro Food Park zone and various vegetable farmers, notably the “pineapple man” that have been operating for the last 30 years and employing hundreds of local people at present. We are also employing youths and involving them with sports and community activities. Early this year we funded the urgent maintenance work on the Rouna 2 bridge at a total cost of K20,000. Its closure would have cut-off Sogeri from the rest of the world. These were done with assistance from the Dauri ILG chairman and the youths.
The Koitaki Agro Food Park once established will double or triple this amount and create thousands of jobs for local people. It saddens me to hear the claims/rumours by Dauri Landowner Association. Such claims and rumors appears to be malicious and an attempt to destroy the hard work put in place by all parties over the last 12 months to deliver this world class agro park that will benefit everybody including current and future generations of the entire Sogeri valley. As a local fund and investment bank our vision and objectives are very clear and we are here to work with everybody and no one will be left behind. We are not here to give free handouts to anyone but to empower them by lending our shovels, bush knives, tractor with slasher/plough, seedlings technical/business know-how, so they can leverage off our connections/network to make it their very own world class farm, earn an honest living on the land and contribute to the development of our country in the areas of food security, foreign exchange earnings, local SME growth/incubation and increasing the tax base of our economy and ultimately improving their living standards locally.

Weekender: How much money changed hands for the Koitaki land?
Simon: The sales and purchase contract amount was K25 million for the entire estate.

Weekender: How much is PBF putting into this investment? And what is the total anticipated investment and expected annual turn-over at maximum production capacity?
Simon: The overall Agro Food Park master plan and the business plan/model are near completion, and an announcement will be made soon.

Weekender: What kind of investors are you inviting to partake in the project? And what kind of food crop or animal production are you targeting?
Simon: Invitations is open to any local existing agro-business companies, local SME’s involved in the agriculture and the fresh produce sector who want to partake from the outset in this world-class project.
Potential farming and agro business areas that are suited (subject to trial) and further soil test and in line with master plan guidelines are: Honey bee farming; Coffee (arabica)-tree-to cup concept; egg layers (Innovative Agro Industries JV) mostly for local market; organic eggs for premium markets -export quality; organic chickens for premium markets-export quality; premium beef – live sales and export; sweet potatoes and English potatoes- for local and frozen to export; Samoan pink taro/dalo – for export; frozen vegetables- for export; organic spices –turmeric/ginger/Chilli for local markets and export; nuts-peanuts/gallip nuts/marita; yams farming for local markets and export; prawn and inland crab and fish farming; crocodile farming; insect farming; cassava farming for feed making; bulb onion; and mushroom farming for local markets and export.
These are just some listed activities and any specific proposals can be submitted with a follow-on presentation.

Weekender: You indicated that the same model for Koitaki could be applied in other parts of the country. Please elaborate.
Simon: Papua New Guineans are hardworking and born agriculturalist and they can quickly connect with the land when give an opportunity. But our recent experiences of the devastating effects of the cocoa pod borer (CPB), Bogia Coconut Syndrome (BCS), potato blight, bee diseases, coffee berry borer (CBB), climate change-induced drought mean that we have to adopt new ways, practices and technology to do agriculture business smarter so our economy are not susceptible and exposed to various risk factors. We have all the necessary ingredients like fertile soil, running water in creeks, rain and sunshine all year around to possibly feed the growing population of the world by doing agriculture the smarter way and the Agro Food Park is the way forward. Similar food parks can be potentially developed in the Sepik Plains and Amanab Valley in Vanimo-Green area of the Sepik region, Markham Valley in Morobe, Kerevat in East New Britain, and Buin in South Bougainville for the Niugini Islands and the Karimui, Aiyura, Baiyer, Waghi Sugu, Sembirigi and the Hulia Valley for the Highlands region, if carefully planned and managed by not only people who have experience and qualifications but ones that have the vision and passion to lead the agriculture revolution in this country in a big way.

Weekender: If all goes according to PBF Agro Business plans, how soon can we expect the first investor in Koitaki?
Simon: We already have first investors like the Innovative Agro Industries Ltd that was announced last week. The second investor is a local SME breeding the Koitaki beef bloodline. The next couple of interested investors in line could set-up anytime from now are the honey bee farmers, Central coffee farmers/processors and the spice farmers/processors.