Minister for International Trade and Investment, Hon. Richard Maru whilst thanking Kumul Petroleum Holdings Limited (KPHL) for its sponsorship of K100, 000 towards the very first Papua New Guinea (PNG) International Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Summit said KPHL will go beyond being a sponsor to becoming a very important partner in the SEZ journey.
“One of the biggest problems faced by most companies in Papua New Guinea is unreliable power and very expensive rates of power in this country. We can no longer accept continuous power blackouts; Papua New Guinea must say no to this,” said Minister Maru.
“As the Minister for International Trade and Investment I want to see the private sector grow and we will only do that on the back of cheap and reliable power. We can have all the plans about having SEZs in the country but without cheap and reliable energy, we are not going to do it,” added Minister Maru.
The Ministry of International Trade and Investment recently signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with KPHL for them to be the energy solutions provider in all the SEZs in the country, starting with the PMIZ in Madang.
“We will not have an SEZ (PMIZ) in Madang if we do not sort out the power problem in the province,” said Minister Maru.
Minister Maru encouraged KPHL and NFA to get the work at PMIZ started by sending a team there to undertake a feasibility study.
“Start talking and working together and let us start on the design of a new power station so we can show that we are not just talking but we are starting now,” said Minister Maru.
“Apart from supplying the PMIZ, all the excess energy will be sold into Madang because the province has continuous power blackouts, so we have to start the work in Madang to not just support the PMIZ but also to support the province,” added Minister Maru.
Meanwhile, KPHL will be given a slot to speak at the PNG International Summit which will be hosted in Port Moresby from May 8-9, 2023.
“KPHL will talk about their vision to connect cheap and reliable energy to all the SEZs in the country,” said Minister Maru.
