SYDNEY, June 12 (Xinhua) -- The new Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea James Marape met with his cabinet for the first time on Wednesday, to outline his plans to prioritize the South Pacific nation's emerging agriculture sector.
With 11 new ministers named, including Bryan Kramer as Police Minister and Kerenga Kua as Petroleum Minister, Marape also selected three vice ministers to assist Agriculture and Livestock Minister John Simon.
"While coffee, cocoa, copra and oil palm were the mainstay of agriculture, organic food and livestock had huge growth potential, especially to the lucrative Asian market," the new leader told the National Newspaper.
"These are agriculture produce and products that can put PNG in the international market or world map. It is a no-brainer, just a little training and education, and our people will be on the ground to contribute to nation building and themselves."
"Agriculture is PNG's biggest economic sector involving the majority of our citizens, transforming it into an efficient, productive and robust global revenue earner will naturally benefit them and country."
"This, we can achieve with competent, effective and aggressive policies and projects that stimulate and complement agriculture activities and growth."
As well as invigorating the nation's farming and agriculture sectors, the new PNG Government will also look to bolster the country's visitor industries by strengthening its law and order policies.
Marape said he aims to re-establish PNG's defunct spy agency -- the National Intelligence Organisation (NIO).
"Law-and-order woes would also need to be addressed with significant success if we want to grow our tourism industry and boost our international foreign exchange standing," he said.
