Papua New Guinea’s Minister for International Trade and Investment Richard Maru is hopeful a major rice project in Kairuku in Central Province will get off the ground this year. He says the project though will have to get the blessing from the Central Provincial Government, Kairuku District Development Authority, Hiri-Koiari DDA, impact communities, and the National Government, who own the Manumanu land at Gabadi. Rice investors from the Philippines, who visited the project site at Gabadi recently, say millions of Kina will be needed to finance the growing of rice on a commercial scale. Former Philippines Department of Agriculture Secretary, Dr. Emmanuel Pinol, who leads the investor team, says they will need 1, 200 hectares to start this investment. The availability of state land and close proximity to the Hiritano Highway and electricity grid are some of the deciding factors. This decision was reached by a group of Filipino Rice Investors, after the conclusion of a two-day field t