by Bethanie Harriman – EM TV, Lae
A rural district in Papua New Guinea is developing into an Agricultural investment destination.
The Yangoru-Saussia district of the East Sepik Province is building infrastructures including roads and police stations to invite foreign investors.
The district has been building an agricultural base economy that has the backing of the National Government and investors.
The development template promoted by the Papua New Guinean government has been to free up land, improve roads and build police stations in rural districts to enable foreign investors to invest in Papua New Guinean economy.
Also, the government wants to empower people in Yangoru into businesses by subsidising bank loans. This is expected to boost the economy of Papua New Guinea, which will experience growth in the sustainable Agricultural sector.
During a tour of the Sepik Plain, Trade, Commerce and Industry Minister and Yangoru-Saussia, MP Richard Maru accompanied a foreign investor company LR Group.
While on the tour, Richard Maru was explaining the government’s intentions to the LR Group CEO, Illan Weiss.
With a hundred million kina funding from the National Government, the Yangoru-Saussia District Authority has been building road infrastructures, putting electricity, improving health, education and police stations to make the district conducive for foreign investors.
The Sepik Plain has been freed up as a Special Economic Zone, to start Agricultural developmen’s; this will include over three investors in different areas of the Agricultural sector.
The LR Group Chief Executive Officer, Illan Weiss, addressed a crowd of over 2,000 people at the Yangoru Station during the country’s first District SME Day.
“We will not only grow the feed in our project, this is something we are alredy doing in PNG, you will be able to grow the feed for the project, and I promise you now we will buy the feed from you”, the LR Group CEO said.
The SME Day that was held on Saturday was to empower people to own businesses.
The district has been subsidising bank loans to enable businessmen and women who are serious in doing business to excess funds to start their businesses.
The challenge has been about how the people will get involved and create wealth.
They have however been given access to subsidised bank loans for starting a business while some would be employed in one of the projects.
Free education and health care has been about how every child would have an equal opportunity to be attending school and to take part in the development aspirations of the country.
While the investors with their technology create the environment of sustainable economic growth, it is yet a complex journey hinging on how hard people have to work hard to have a slice of the country’s economy.
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