PNG IS CONFIDENT it can drive some of the big Asian fish canneries out of business and bring jobs and revenue back to the Pacific. It's part of a plan to make PNG one of the world's leading fish processing nations.

In the past 10 years fish processing has become a major employer in employer in PNG, which now wants other Pacific island nations sending fish to its canneries.

With 60% of the world tuna caught in the Pacific, it should be home to a world beating fish processing industry but that has not been the case. The eight tuna-rich Pacific nations known as the PNA group have had trouble bringing jobs onshore.

PNG National Fisheries Authority boss Sylvester Pokajam wants to change that.

“We want to extend to the Pacific especially the PNA countries, to earn more from their resources rather than just relying on the access fees so we try to develop in that are to see how we can all work together as one group to benefit together,” he said.

In the past ten years PNG has seen strong growth in its fish processing industry - so much that it now employs more than 9000 people. Expansion plans at the IFC cannery in Lae will add another 1,200 jobs and three well-progressed new investments are set to create 12,000 jobs on top of that.

PNG has vast tuna resources - its total allowable catch is 500,000 tonnes a year. The recent growth has been driven by the duty-free and quota-free access PNG gets to the lucrative European market. At the moment much of this tuna is canned in Asia.

Sylvester Pokajam says most of the new investment is in Morobe Province. “The Governor is very supportive and he wants jobs. He does not want anything else just jobs, jobs, jobs and I think that is a very good approach. Lae has everything. It’s got basic infrastructure. Water, power, wharf facilities. People are available to be employed so this is more or less the centre for PNG.”

Source: Radio Australia