Wemin suggesting options for agricultural financing in PNG

FINANCIAL institutions are the best channel for the development of agriculture in the country, Melanesian Trustee Services Limited chief executive Kennedy Wemin says.
He told the inaugural national agriculture summit in Port Moresby that a lot of foreigners want to invest in agriculture in the country but had little confidence in financial institutions.
“The best channel are the financial institutions because they provide corporate governance, security, provide structure through which it is visible and allows comfort and gives comfort to an investor who wants to fly to the country,” Wemin said.
He said financial institutions were able to create innovative products and ways to develop agriculture.
“We have that flexibility and with corporate governance, we have transparency and accountability on our side,” he said.
Wemin believes it is time Papua New Guinea starts feeding the Asian region with its agricultural produce.
“We believe that Papua New Guinea is in a sweet spot, geographically we are well positioned,” he said.
“We have a growing population in the Asian region, we should be feeding them. We need to have a lot of road shows. We need to take our locally-produced coffee and cocoa abroad and let them hear our story.”
Wemin supported the call by Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer Charles Abel for the government to stop running businesses.
“It should never run business, the government should provide policies to empower corporate funding into this sector,” he said.