Coffee Minister William Bando officially opened the new state-of-the-art Homestate Coffee Factory at Tanam in Morobe Province on Thursday.
Minister Bando congratulated Chairman of Homestate, Tony Wetwattana and his team for this investment into the coffee industry that will greatly assist coffee farmers in Morobe, and other maritime provinces to process their coffee.
“As minister for this important sector that supports over 450, 000 households that equates to about 2-3 million individuals, this is where the money should be spent. Bando said.
He said that the opening of this state-of-the-art Homestate’s dry processing mill is far more than a corporate event.
“It a profound political statement. It a declaration by this Government that we are decisively moving away from a colonial era model of raw commodity extraction. We are now marching towards a new era of in-country value addition, job creation, and national wealth retention.”
The minister added that his ministry is mobilizing with the government and partners to build coffee access roads, address coffee berry borer, setting up the green gold card (soon to be launched) to support farmers with price, drive research and development through developing climate resilient seedlings and modern farming techniques.
CIC Acting CEO and Chief Operations Officer, Steven Tumae, said Homestate and CIC had a working relationship spanning over 10 years. “Today, we open its doors to the growers of Morobe and wider PNG,” he said.
Tumae explained that Homestate is a major player in rice, instant noodles, salt, sugar and foam boxes.
“Their strategic diversification into coffee signals immense confidence in the coffee industry. It also adds significance capacity to Morobe Province, a province with a rich coffee heritage.” Tumae said.
The occasion was witnessed by leaders from both the provincial and national government, business representatives in the province, coffee stakeholders and partners.
