MARU SAYS, PNG HAS 4 LICENSED SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONES

CAPTION: Minister for International Trade and Investment, Hon. Richard Maru

PAPUA New Guinea (PNG) currently has only four licensed Special Economic Zones (SEZs) including the Paga Hill, Sea Park, Pacific Lime and Cement, and the PNG Trade Centre.

This was according to Minister for International Trade and Investment, Hon. Richard Maru.

“Four others have been approved in principle by the National Executive Council (NEC) but they are not considered Special Economic Zones (SEZs) because they have not yet applied for and received licenses from the regulator, the Special Economic Zones Authority (SEZA).

These include the Portside Gardens SEZ, the Lae Port SEZ, Caution Bay SEZ, and the Finschhafen Integrated SEZ,” clarified Minister Maru

He further clarified that the SEZA would only issue a license subject to the project, ticking off all requirements, including secured State Land, availability of utilities, proving to have the funds to develop the SEZ, and others.

Minister Maru called on the management and developers of these four SEZs to apply for their SEZ licenses so their locators could benefit from the SEZ incentives offered by the government.

“You can not market yourselves as SEZs yet until you get a license. I am very disappointed that PNG Ports and the Kumul Consolidated Holdings have not applied for the licenses for the Lae Port SEZ and the Portside Gardens SEZ despite concept approvals and our encouragement. We already have investors interested to be located within these two SEZs,” said Minister Maru.

In the meantime, the Minister confirmed that six more proposed SEZs were being processed at various stages.

“It was mind-blowing to visit Shenzhen with the Prime Minister last week as Shenzhen was declared an SEZ in 1980, transforming once a fishing village to a vibrant metropolis with a population of 20 million people and now the world’s top technology cluster,”

Despite all the critics against the government on the SEZ policy, we will push ahead because we see SEZs as the main employer and the main driver of sustained economic growth into the future. No one will distract our focus on the development of SEZs in PNG,” Minister Maru said.

He concluded in mentioning that the transformation miracle of Shenzhen shows what SEZs can do and the potential they have to transform nations.