Trukai Industries - Planting the seeds for a social and economic transformation of PNG's agriculture sector

Papua New Guinea PNG) is the largest country by land area in the South Pacific and offers unique trade and investment opportunities supported by two large, strategic cargo ports the first in Port Moresby, PNG’s capital city and centre of commerce, the second in Lae, PNG’s industrial hub. Likewise, PNG’s Bilateral Investment Treaties BITs) with Australia, China, Germany, Japan, Malaysia, and the UK offer international investors lucrative global market access, and its government has repeatedly reaffirmed the country’s openness to international trade as part of its economic diversification effort.

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According to PWC, PNG's agriculture sector accounts for approximately one-quarter of the country's total GDP and is its main economic driver. PNG farmers enjoy high seasonal rainfall, fertile soils, and a favourable climate, and the sector provides a livelihood for 85% of the rural population. However, many PNG farmers still rely on subsistence farming techniques and traditional methods, which the country's government aims to reform in its quest for a diverse, self-sufficient agriculture sector. For example, the PNG National Rice Policy 2015-2030 encourages landowners to commercialise their subsistence farms as large-scale rice farms.

For the past five decades, PNG's leading rice supplier has been Trukai Industries, whose iconic rice brands - Trukai and Roots are established staples throughout PNG households. Trukai employs 1,000 people, 8 national distribution centres, in addition to its flagship 220,000-tonne capacity rice mill and packing plant. Trukai is 33% PNG-owned, and 25,000 Papua New Guineans have a stake in it through the Melanesian Trustee Services (MTSL) superannuation fund.

Trukai was launched in alliance with Australian farmers and PNG companies and is currently a part of the Australian-owned company SunRice, one of the world's largest rice companies, through a joint venture.