Minister for International Trade and Investment, Richard Maru had a bilateral meeting with the New Zealand Minister for Agriculture, Hunting and Fishing, Forestry, and Trade, Todd McClay in Auckland on Tuesday (23 Apr).
Minister Maru said Papua New Guinea (PNG) and New Zealand need to reset their relationship.
Maru proposed to Minister McClay that the governments of both countries need to negotiate a comprehensive economic and development partnership under a proper agreement where there are obligations on both sides.
“The time has come for PNG and New Zealand to seriously sit down and review the past 50 years of our relationship and talk about a new framework that is more comprehensive and one that will bring far more benefit to both countries. Let’s face it, PNG and New Zealand have had 50 years of relationship but have not made a go of this relationship on both sides,” said Minister Maru.
“New Zealand is a country that is number one in the world in terms of agriculture, engineering, and many other fields. We can benefit from this relationship in a bigger way only if we have a framework, a structure, and an agreement that will benefit both countries,” Maru added.
Minister Maru also raised a concern to Minister McClay on the number of Papua New Guineans employed under New Zealand’s Recognized Seasonal Employer (RSE) Scheme.
“We have 400 workers employed in New Zealand under the RSE Scheme whilst Vanuatu alone has 6,000. This is a serious concern to us because we think that PNG is a far more important partner to New Zealand in terms of trade volume, but the numbers do not add up. The feedback we have received from the farms in New Zealand is that Papua New Guinean employees perform very well. We only have 400 people employed in New Zealand under the RSE Scheme, but the demand is so high as we have over 30, 000 young people coming out of Grade 12 every year.
“Australia has introduced a new program under which they not only employ farm workers but also skilled workers who are offered a contract up to four years. That for us is better because they mentor them and develop them with skills that they can return with to PNG. We are keen on such longer-term program with New Zealand where Papua New Guinea graduate students in agriculture or fisheries can be employed in New Zealand industries for four years and learn from them so they can return to PNG and become leaders in our own industries,” said Minister Maru.
Minister Maru also met and invited potential New Zealand investors to invest in the Special Economic Zones in PNG.
“We need industries that New Zealand is renowned for, like poultry, dairy, and aquaculture. Poultry is one of the areas that we are seriously looking at because we do not want to continue to import K100 million worth of chicken every year. We want a New Zealand company to come and invest in this space because it is an industry that they are very good at,” said Minister Maru.
Minister Maru further stated, “Not only are we looking at investments, but we feel that the time has come for the Agriculture Ministers of both countries to enter into formal MOU for an agriculture cooperation that will be an important framework that PNG can utilize to secure New Zealand’s support for the development of agriculture and livestock industries in PNG.”
Minister Maru added, “We have just recently exported our first taros to New Zealand after 50 years of trying. We want to also export our yams, sweet potatoes, bananas, our coffee, and other products including tuna to New Zealand especially targeting the 400, 000 islanders living in New Zealand. The biggest obstacle is having no direct flights between our two countries and that is something our two governments need to look at addressing as a matter of priority if we are serious about the future of our relationship.”
Minister Maru also expressed to Minister McClay that PNG needed assistance from the New Zealand Government to reform its Capital Market.
“We are looking at modeling our new legislation and regulations on the back of the New Zealand experience. We want to be able to send young and professional Papua New Guineans to work in New Zealand Financial Market Authority (FMA) and work with the FMA to develop our capital market,” said Minister Maru.
Minister Maru further added, “Our focus now will be to develop our relationship with New Zealand businesses, people, and institutions. Connection has been a serious issue in our relationship. We do not have flight connectivity between our two countries, and our Kumuls do not even play the Kiwis annually. We want to work on this relationship which we have not worked on in the last 50 years. It is better late than never. New Zealand is a country that is more open and friendly, but we have not matured and developed the relationship, and we want to start now. As we celebrate our 50 years of Independence next year, we really need to connect with New Zealand so they can help us chart our roadmap and define the next 50 years towards achieving our Vision 2050 aspirations.”