Sir Paulis hails visit to Israel

 FORMER Governor-General Sir Paulias Matane has welcomed the visit to Israel by a government delegation led by Prime Minister Peter O’Neill.

He said in Kokopo, East New Britain,  he was impressed with the result of the visit.

“I have been to Israel and I am impressed with their productivity in terms of agriculture,” he said.

Matane said although Israel was mostly desert, it had improvised agriculture wisely and produced a surplus of cash crops which it exported to other countries.

“We in Papua New Guinea are blessed,” he said.

“We have a rich land, our people are hardworking as majority of them re subsistence farmers and earn their living by working the land.

“We should have been exporting our surplus food to other countries long ago.”

He said the visit to Israel had a positive outcome and should teach PNG the importance of agriculture as an industry which could generate income for the people and country.

Sir Paulias welcomed the decision to set up a PNG embassy in Israel.

The opening of PNG’s mission in Israel is expected to strengthen and enhance relations between the two nations.