The Board of SD Guthrie, which currently owns the New Britain Palm Oil Limited (NBPOL), has agreed in principle to start serious negotiations with the PNG Government to enter into a long-term mutual beneficial business partnership. The Board hekd a special meeting last Friday during the visit of PNG Minister for International Trade and Investment, Richard Maru, to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Mr Maru met with the Board and Management of SD Guthrie to progress the discussion on the State’s acquisition of shares into Ramu Agri Industries (RAI).
The Board agreed to partner the PNG Government, starting this year, as equity partners together with other PNG and international investors to develop vast large scale agriculture farming opportunities right across the country.
Ministet Maru said: “The State’s interest to buy into RAI is for us to use the company as a vehicle to invest and develop, initially, the vast Sepik Plains for cattle and palm oil development, sugar in Abau of central province, and coconut projects in the coastal regions. We want to invite our PNG investors like Nasfund, Nambawan Super and Pacific Balanced Fund to join us to buy into this very important and exciting agriculture company.”
He further stated: “PNG is currently a net importer of beef meat and refined sugar when we should be producing enough for our domestic consumption and export. We are also an exporter of crude coconut oil and palm oil with limited processed coconut oil. As we reflect on our country’s economic development over the last 50 years, we have failed to unleash our full agriculture sector, and this had resulted in over a million youths of our country remaining unemployed, disengaged and disenfranchised, leading to so many problems in the country including the high crime rate. We are now determined to find a partner to grow all the cattle and sugar we need to replace imports and be net exporters and to grow our palm oil and coconut industries. We have millions of hectares of undeveloped land right across the country for large scale commercial agriculture development.”
The National Executive Council (NEC) had approved in principle for the Government to partner SD Guthrie to invest in large scale development of the agriculture sector, particularly in the upstream and downstream of the palm oil, sugar, cattle, and the coconut industries.
“Our Government has made a very conscious decision to partner SD Guthrie because it is a publicly listed company with over 100 years of experience, it is from a country that has a matured oil palm industry, and it brings to the table its expertise, capital and oil palm research capabilities that are unrivalled globally. We also understand that SD Guthrie has no more land available for expansion in Malaysia, except in PNG, hence, this partnership will be an excellent strategic fit for both PNG and SD Guthrie with long-term mutual benefits,” said Minister Maru.
He invited SD Guthrie to join the Government and its Sri Lankan partner to go into downstream of coconut and in the upstream plantation sector.
He also strongly advised the company to invest more in the area of Corporate Social Responsibility in the provinces and districts they operate in to improve the lives of the people who gave up their land for the estates and operations.
He further advised the company to also extend its tax credit programs outside of West New Britain Province to other provinces like Madang, Milne Bay and Oro where they operate in.
The Minister and his small delegation including the Governor for Madang, Ramsey Pariwa, Secretary for Department of International Trade and Investment, and Chairman and Acting CEO of Special Economic Zones Authority, also visited the operations of SD Guthrie during the visit.
“We were particularly impressed with their Research and Development (R&D), global network of downstream and sales and marketing operations in over 96 countries, their status and influence as the leading publicly listed oil palm company of Malaysia with the largest landbank, their very strong balance sheet and Triple B credit rating, and their recent decision to go into renewal energy to become a negative carbon footprint company with 100 percent RSPO certification of its total operations. This was a very insightful visit and we are convinced beyond any reasonable doubt that SD Guthrie would be the best possible partner for our Government to enter into a long-term partnership with to develop the agriculture sector of PNG in the next 50 years as part of the Reset Agenda of the Marape-Rosso Government,” said Minister Maru.
The State now awaits formal Offer Letter to be provided by SD Guthrie on or before January 21, 2026. It was agreed that full feasibility study will commence next month with the arrival of their team of scientists to take soil samples.
During the visit, they will also do an aerial tour with a helicopter to appreciate the sheer size and magnitude of the vast Sepik Plains.
“Whilst the feasibility studies will commence next month, the company made it very clear that in the State Project Agreement they will sign with the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, the Government has to commit to building an international wharf at Wewak, upgrading and sealing the roads into the Sepik Plains, specifically in the project area, proving key enablers like power, bridges, police and security services, and providing State land and mobilizing customary land for large scale agriculture development,” said Minister Maru.
The Minister and team also paid a courtesy visit to the Malaysian Palm Oil Board Headquarters where they were met with the Chairman and Senior Management for discussion on Malaysia regulatory framework, research platforms, and technology development initiatives that may be relevant to PNG’s own sectoral aspirations