PNG—Cairns Trade proving a $51m boon for our small businesses
The knowledge economy is the main export from Cairns and PNG, and the number of opportunities are only likely to grow says a key business group. Find how you can cash in.TRT
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There is money to be made across the Torres Strait for Far North businesses in the engineering and agri-skills sector – if they know where to look
Tradelinked Cairns-PNG-Pacific, established to “to develop and facilitate activities which increase the engagement of like-minded businesses trading between Far North Queensland and its Pacific neighbours” says the services trade is injecting millions of dollars into the Cairns economy each year.
In wide-ranging conversation about an ever-enlarging part of the FNQ economy, Tradelinked Cairns-PNG-Pacific president Tony Sheehan told the Cairns Post what the key exports are and how local businesses can capitalise.
“It really is about the knowledge economy,” Mr Sheehan explained.
“The big one is engineering, the next one is agri-skills.”
He said PNG’s booming construction sector and infrastructure projects were the two big areas our knowledge-based professions were capitalising on, as our northern neighbour makes progress to modernise its largely agrarian economy.
“Things get put out for tender and businesses here are often the ones that get chosen,” Mr Sheehan said.
“We uniquely understand the tropics, we are the Australian capital of the tropics – we know about the climate and the types of buildings we need.
“We also have more to do with PNG than other places in Australia or internationally, that’s our advantage.”
The agricultural, forestry, and fishing sector accounts for most of the labour force of PNG. Agriculture currently accounts for 25 per cent of its GDP and supports more than 80 per cent of the population.
“They are proudly agrarian,” Mr Sheehan explained.
“That's not going to change anytime soon. I think if you look at the aspirations of a growing generation of young people on farms, you will see that both want to remain in farming and having more of the cool mod-cons of western society outside of that.”
Mr Sheehan said while PNGers were highly-skilled farmers, there were things they wanted to learn from Australia.
“We don’t need to show them how to grow anything. What we can do is show them how to market it and where else they can be selling it.”
The important food crops in PNG are sweet potato, banana, sago, taro, Chinese taro, yams, cassava and sugarcane.
“We are certainly not going to see a rapid industrialisation in PNG like we have seen in China. It will be the same as it is, just more of it,” he explained.
He said the majority of FNQ businesses that export to Papua New Guinea have less than 10 employees, with Tradelinked Cairns-PNG-Pacific pushing for more businesses to start trading and reaping the rewards.
“Teaching their teachers is another big potential area for us. I think the consensus is that education standards are dropping there and they are looking ways to improve that.”
Leading exports between the Far North and PNG include raw sugar and live horticultural products – particularly tropical fruits, fish and shellfish.
Recently, Tropical North Queensland’s agribusiness supply chain has expanded to include coffee, chocolate, wine, nuts and dried fruits to the region he said,
Across the nation, the main products exported from Australia to Papua New Guinea were Wheat ($72.3m), Excavation Machinery ($64.8m), and Sheep and Goat Meat ($59.3m).
PNG is already the number two export destination for Queensland goods and services after NZ.
Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics indicates more than 4000 Australian companies export to PNG.
Mr Sheehan believes the city should develop a Connect with Cairns campaign to showcase opportunities, and deliver an “enhancement of regional partnerships” between Cairns and export sectors in Papua New Guinea and Pacific Island nations.
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