The Member for Vanimo Green, Belden Namah is seeking the support of the National Government to assist his district in developing the much talked about Vanimo Free Trade Zone (FTZ).
The Vanimo FTZ has been on the drawing board over the last 20 years after been initiated by the former Sandaun Governor, the late John Tekwie.
In response to Namah’s formal request, the Minister for International Trade and Investment who is responsible for Special Economic Zones (SEZs), Richard Maru said, “The Marape-Rosso Government will support Namah and all Members of Parliament, Governors, and Ministers who want to develop SEZs in their districts or provinces. However, they must take the initiative and ensure that all the prerequisites to attract investors are there.”
Minister Maru stated that the proposed Vanimo FTZ will need the following enablers that must be in place to attract locators to invest in the zone:
- An international wharf
- An international airport
- Cheap and reliable electricity
- Water and sewerage systems
- No less than 300 hectares of land for the development of an export processing zone in Vanimo
- A functional and efficient border post at Wutung with scanning machines etc for PNG Customs Service to do their work to process PNG exports going into Indonesia.
“Without land, cheap and reliable electricity, and a water supply system, it will be difficult to develop the proposed Vanimo FTZ. It is up to Namah to attend to all the enablers I have outlined to him before our Government can assist him and the Sandaun Provincial Government in developing the Vanimo FTZ,” said Minister Maru.
He has assured Namah of total Government support for Vanimo to be a hub for manufacturing and exporting to the vast Asia markets starting with Indonesia which has over 270 million people.