Tuesday 21 May 2024
Prime Minister Hon. James Marape has commended the National Fisheries Authority (NFA) for its tremendous work as a successful statutory authority in regulating and managing the thriving fisheries industry of Papua New Guinea.
Prime Minister Marape also acknowledged the Minister for Fisheries and Marine Resources, Hon. Jelta Wong, for establishing a wonderful working partnership with NFA.
This partnership builds on the efforts of his predecessor, Hon. Dr. Lino Tom, and has enabled a prospering fisheries industry within PNG’s non-resource sector of the economy.
PM Marape said: “The fisheries industry of Papua New Guinea under the management of the National Fisheries Authority is succeeding on many fronts and is also generating significant revenue for the Government.
The NFA has largely contributed by faithfully and exceedingly paying its share of dividends to the Government.
“Moreover, the NFA is not only thriving in the fishing industry and generating Government revenue, it is also a significant corporate entity that has been partnering with various communities around the country where there is huge potential for the fishing industry.
“I am impressed with NFA’s ability to engage and partner with various District Development Authorities and Provincial Governments to deliver social impact projects for our people. That is something my government encourages and would want to support going forward.”
The Prime Minister stated that his government aims to ‘Take Back PNG’ in all its resource projects, both in the Extractive and Non-Extractive sectors.
He emphasised that fisheries is one industry in the non-resource sector of PNG’s economy that is performing exceptionally well and must be harnessed to achieve greater heights.
“Papua New Guinea has some of the best quality fish in the world, especially among countries in the Asia-Pacific Region. Our tuna is of great quality and is something we can be proud of as a country.
“With us having 2.4 million square kilometres of fisheries zone as an import-dependent nation, it is by far the largest of such in the South Pacific and has enormous economic potential for the future.
“As this government has been emphasising all along, we encourage our resource industries, including the fisheries industry, to go into downstream processing to enable greater economic return for the country, as we aim to build a K200 billion economy by 2030. Investing in our non resource sector like our fisheries industry is the path we are looking at for the future of this beautiful country that the good Lord has blessed with abundant resources,” added Prime Minister Marape.