P.N.G. seeks more markets

Press, 25 August 1983, Page 9

P.N.G. seeks more markets

Canterbury businessmen are being encouraged to buy more goods from Papua New Guinea. A trade mission is on a two-day visit to Christchurch to promote products from that country. The mission, promoting products ranging from timber and coffee to seafoods and handicrafts, is led by the High Commissioner for Papua New Guinea, Mr Brian Amini. The response from local businessmen had been very encouraging, he said. Papua New Guinea had already established a trading relationship with Auckland businessmen but this was the first official trade mission to visit the South Island, he said. The mission had come to New Zealand because Papua New Guinea needed to strengthen its economy by developing export industries, said Mr Amini. “Trade is more important than aid. We cannot rely on aid,” he said. “We need to increase our trading relationships with other countries and New Zealand is a very important trrading nation in the South Pacific region.” Last week, the mission represented Papua New Guinea at the International Trade Fair in Wellington. Papua New Guinea was the only South Pacific country at the fair. The mission’s New Zealand visit was organised by the Departments of Foreign Affairs, and Trade and Industry and was funded by New Zealand under its bilateral aid programme with Papua New Guinea. A spokesman for the Trade and Industry Department, Mr Graham Allely, said it was not normally the Government’s policy to encourage imports. However, under the South Pacific Regional Trade and Economic Co-operation Agreement, Papua New Guinea had free access to the New Zealand market for almost all products, he said. Since the agreement was signed in 1981, exports to New Zealand from Papua New Guinea have grown considerably. Last year, those exports totalled nearly $7.2 million, an increase of 30 per cent on the previous year. Most of the trade was in coffee and timber. In spite of the recent growth in trade, Mr Amini said, New Zealand was not buying enough. The trade balance between the two countries still favoured New Zealand by eight to one. The trade mission aimed to redress that imbalance, he said.