ENB INITIATIVE| A REGIONAL FISHERIES CONCEPT
Prime Minister James Marape recently highlighted that the East New Britain Initiative (ENBi) in PNG is a regional fisheries commercialisation concept for the fishing and processing of the region’s marine resources for export.
During his meeting with the Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka on the margins of the 53rd Pacific Islands Leaders’ Summit, Prime Minister James Marape informed PM Rabuka that Papua New Guinea is now focusing on commerce, business, trade and investment, and exploring further markets in Asia and the Pacific.
He stressed that the ENBi provides the opportunity to Pacific Island countries to invest in the project for better returns than what Pacific countries are currently getting from raw tuna export. The two leaders meeting, held on the margins of the 53rd Pacific Islands Leaders’ Summit, continues to explore and strengthen the bilateral cooperation between the two countries.
Prime Minister Marape also highlighted to his counterpart the great potential for trade and investment existing between the two nations, urging bureaucracies of the two nations to work together through the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) avenue to progress trade and investment further.
Meanwhile, Fisheries and Marine Resources Minister Jelta Wong announced today that the National Tuna Domestication Strategy (NTDS) will be launched in the first quarter of 2025. Minister Wong stated that the NTDS reflects the Marape-Rosso led Government’s commitment to developing a robust tuna industry and the end goal is to boost the value retention of tuna catches within PNG’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and Archipelagic Waters
He ways, the NTDS is developed under the Fisheries Strategic Plan 2021-2030 (FSP) to support the National Government’s aim of making PNG a major regional tuna hub in the Asia-Pacific region adding this initiative seeks to boost PNG’s role in regional tuna fishing and processing industries, aligning with the East New Britain Initiative (ENBi) which was endorsed by the Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) and Pacific Islands Forum Leaders.
Over the coming months, the NTDS will be presented to stakeholders before it is finalized and officially endorsed for implementation.
