Papua New Guinea has been beaten by non-traditional coffee growing countries who are far exceeding PNG’s coffee exports.
Minister for Trade, Commerce and Industry, Wera Mori, said following a recent visit to Vietnam, he learned that the country invested in the commodity which has now bypassed PNG.
He said while PNG had already begun exporting coffee by the 1960s, Vietnam’s coffee industry was in its infant stages.
However, the South East Asian country is now exporting more bags while PNG struggles.
“Vietnam did not produce one bag of coffee in 1975. When PNG gained Independence, we produced one million green bean bags.
“42 years later, we are struggling to produce 800,000 bags a year and Vietnam, the country that did not produce one bag of green bean, now produces in the vicinity of 15 million coffee bags. This is a big problem,” he said.
Minister Mori said the plantation revival project through the cooperatives societies’ structure will enhance commodity products in the country.
(Picture: The Black Drop Coffee House)