£10½ Millions
p. 51 · Read in the full issue
P-NG Exports in 1952-53
WITH justifiable pride, the Aus tralian Territories Minister, on October 17, announced that the exports of the Territories of Papua-New Guinea in 1952-53 reached a value of £10,814,301, com pared with £5,437,672 in 1949-50 — doubled in four years.
In the same period imports have risen from £9,475,827 in 1949-50 to £12,071,481 in 1952-53. The 1952-53 figure was about £2,000,000 less than imports in 1951-52, the reduction being due largely to the policy of import restrictions to conserve ex change.
This would have been of great interest to all Pacific Territories, if only the Canberra bureaucrats had thought it worth while to show how the total of exports in 1952-53 was made up. Such a thing apparently never occurs to them. From the data given by the Minister, and 3ther figures made available in Moresby, we have compiled the fol lowing table, which is approximately jorrect:
Total value in 1952-53 . .. 10,814,301 1952-53 exports included 19 tons of enaf fibre and 25 tons of passionfruit alp.
The Minister said that the range f exports is also growing as new lelds of primary production are pened, and he quotes Kenaf fibre, langrove bark, passionfruit pulp, ralip nuts, cinchona bark and pea uts. “The trend to greater iversification of production will ive greater stability to the Terri )ry’s economy,” he said. He noted lat in 1952-53, natives produced >,OOO tons of copra, valued at 1,200,000.
The Minister also noted that the erritory is prpducing more of its wn food—the imports of preserved Bgetables and fruit, in 1952-53, ere half the total of 1951-52. He dded: “Side by side with encouragement ' the development of the Terri >ry’s resources, planned efforts are sing made to increase local food ipplies. Quick results are being stained in vegetables, and long >rm plans are being developed for «al production of rice and meat, hich are two of the largest items : imported foods.”
The following figures show how •me plantation production has
Papua-New Guinea now has an income of approximately £AI9 per annum—£lol millions from exports, plus over £7 from Australian Com monwealth subsidies, plus at least £1,000,000 being spent each year on the search for oil.
II Monsieur Robert Charon, well known in Tahiti, was recently awarded the Legion d’Honneur and Croix de Guerre with palms “for services military and civil.”
grown in recent years: 1948- 1949- 1950- 1951- 1949 1950 1951 1952 Copra .. 46.383 57,885 75,483 76,904 C. Meal Nil Nil Nil Nil Rubber . .. 1,198 1,634 1,952 2,849 Cocoa . . .. 200 207 317 477 Coffee 16 21 33 35
Jopra, tons ..
Quantity Value (£A) 76,392 5,273,234 )il and meal, tons 5,653 508,489 )ess. coco., tons .. 1,377 329.862 fold, oz 138,835 2,149,817 lubber, lb .. .. 6,520,275 736,080 tocoa, tons .. 639 174,987 bell, tons 795 129,114 timber, su. ft. 1,998,778 76,009 toffee, tons .. 47 31,055 liver, oz 64,464 23,415 eanuts, tons 110 21,302 Inchona, tons . 19 631