Papua New Guinea Plans to Move Beyond Growing, Exporting Palm Oil

Addressing stakeholders at the final validation session of two oil palm Bills in Lae last week, Oil Palm Minister Francis Maneke said the country plans to move beyond growing and exporting raw palm oil, The National reported on May 13.  
Downstream processing and domestic biofuel production were central to the country’s new legislative agenda. Maneke said the absence of downstream processing had long deprived PNG of the full value of its industry, and that the new laws were designed to change that. A biofuel plant has been approved for development in Morobe that will allow PNG to produce biofuels from its own palm oil, reducing dependence on imported petroleum products.
The Palm Oil Management Bill and Palm Oil Industry Authority Bill were in their final validation stage.  They were expected to provide the legal framework needed to support such downstream investments, including provisions for provincial governments and local-level governments to participate more meaningfully in processing operation.  The bills were expected to reach Parliament before June 16 this year.