After Papua New Guinea signed a preliminary agreement with a Chinese fishery company late last year to build a seafood processing plant on an island in the Torres Strait, there were concerns in Australia’s political circles about regional security risks and potential depletion of fishery resources.
Analysts, however, largely dismiss the fears as unwarranted, saying the worries over the Chinese project have no basis and that critics ignore the economic benefits the venture will bring to PNG, including jobs for local people.
Leon Perera, CEO of international research and consulting firm Spire, said the project could create the foundation for PNG’s seafood export industry.
In November, a memorandum of understanding was signed by Fujian Zhonghong Fishery Company, PNG’s fisheries minister Lino Tom, and the governor of the island nation’s Western Province, Taboi Yoto, to build a comprehensive multifunctional fishery industrial park on Daru Island.
The project, worth some US$150 million, is part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative that aims to boost international links and economic development through infrastructure related investments. The fishery park signaled a major boost to PNG’s ambition to establish itself as a significant exporter of seafood.
As is the case with many poor countries, the island nation could not work toward realizing its goal without financial help from outside.
PNG was the second Pacific nation to join China’s ambitious BRI program in 2018 to help build the necessary infrastructure for a developing economy.
The seafood plant, which will be located in an impoverished region, will serve as a hub for processing fish taken from the Torres Strait which divides PNG and Australia. The region is known to be abundant in marine resources, including fish, prawns and lobsters.
According to a recent report from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, a delegation from Australia’s foreign affairs department and the Australian High Commission in PNG traveled to Daru in early January to meet with local officials to discuss the Chinese project.
After the meeting, Yoto wrote in a Facebook post that the Australian government had proposed nothing to counter the Chinese proposal, adding that he does not want his people to remain living in poverty.
“As usual, they came with no alternative plans to counter and deter any foreign direct investment, especially to alleviate poverty and improve social services,” wrote Yoto in an article entitled “We will not sway”.
“It’s regrettable that all they want is for us to be subsistence farmers and fishermen, and maintain our current status quo.”
Yoto said he was “aware that Australians are working behind my back to have my people not to support any foreign direct investment”.
Still, Australia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne told the Senate — the upper house of Australia’s parliament — last month that the Australian Border Force would be patrolling the Torres Strait to ensure that the traditional-only fishing rules in the region, agreed to between PNG and Australia, are enforced.
“Commercial-scale fisheries would not be considered a traditional activity under the Torres Strait Treaty and would not be permitted,” she said.
