The first potential rice investors from the Philippines will arrive tomorrow, Tuesday, January 24, 2023.
The visit was upon invitation by Minister for International Trade and Investment, Richard Maru, to visit potential rice zones in the country.
The team will be led by the Papua New Guinea Ambassador to the Philippines, Betty Palaso and former Department of Agriculture Secretary of the Philippines, Emmanuel Pinol.
The team will visit Central Province which has been identified by the Government as a potential rice zone.
They will visit Brown River and Gabadi in Kairuku District on Wednesday, and Rigo on Thursday before returning to the Philippines.
“This visit signals the start of the aggressive and very determined efforts by the Marape-Rosso Government to replace imports,” said Minister Maru.
“This year my ministry and department will be targeting and working with the single focus to begin work on bringing in both international and local investors to invest in large scale agriculture productions to replace imports.”
Central Province has been identified as a potential Special Economic Zone for rice and cotton.