rom p 18

Some of the ventures are a direct nd specialised Japanese involve lent in major enterprises where apanese expertise is acknowledged, 'his type of operation is typified by he Honshu Paper Company’s big roject, Jant Pty. Ltd., at Madang. ant is tearing out whole forests, jrning the timber to woodchip in a ort-side mill, and replanting the Dgged-out areas.

Another is Sohbu Trading Cor oration which bought out the major eneer and ply operation at Bulolo f Commonwealth New Guinea imbers (and which, incidentally, as begun exporting chopsticks to apan as a small side industry for nds of timber). One of the most iteresting aspects of how Japanese ivestment has become involved is le use of Australian “gateways”, hree of the main Japanese opera irs in PNG are offshoots of original Australian subsidiaries. Mitsubishi Australia Ltd., registered in PNG nder that name, is typical.

But even more complex are the lipping, trading, timber and light idustry ventures which represent )int Australia-Japan companies, he names speak for themselves; 'arpenter Kagai, Gollin Kyokuyo nd Thiess Sohbu.

The total capital investment gure is hard to estimate, and Ithough NIDA is supposed to be ic watchdog of this sort of thing it i reluctant to give any figures, ommercial observers describe the gure as “substantial, but not over owering”.

With a few exceptions Japan has voided establishing its own dis puting or servicing ventures for ic technical products it exports.

Continued on p 106

From p 105

This is no longer particularly easy under the NIDA rules, but in the long run it creates a healthier local situation.

Strong factory liaison, including training courses for Papua New Gui-j neans some with visits to Japan exists in the air-conditioning, mechanical engineering, vehicle, fisheries and electronic industries. ] Fisheries ventures are one of the biggest hopes of the PNG Govern-] ment in its investment negotiations with Japan, and four Japanese firms have been involved. But ironically there have been extreme sensitive ties in this field of operation, largely rooted in the attitudes of coastal Papua New Guineans who are sub sistence, rather than commercial fishermen.

There has been some PNG politi cal criticism of Japan on the grounds that its diplomacy and its aid and involvement programs are too heavily tied to what it wants commercially In one incident last year Japan was accused in the PNG Parliament of having threatened to withdraw' some aid if a pending palm oil venture, in which a Japanese firm was involved, did not get what it wanted. In the final showdown the PNG Government cancelled its agreement with the palm oil developers who were una ble to get their scheme off the ground. Other Japanese interests apologised profusely to a PNG po litical delegation which visited Japan soon afterwards.

Japan now ranks fifth among countries which have visitors and residents moving in and out of PNG.

This figure is maintained by the large number of artisans and techni cians with short-term involvement in Japanese PNG projects, by cons tant liaison from Japanese interests, and by a small but growing tourist interest.

Air Niugini, the PNG national airline, flies to Japan in a weekly service in which loadings are in creasing Japan has reciprocal airline rights (but hasn’t yet exercis ed them).

It’s all a long way from the Rabaul incident of 20 years ago, when the Japanese simply weren't wanted.