A paper on the PNG labour force and employment conditions in Madang Province was prepared by the consultant, Dr Gumoi of UPNG, as background to the proposed labour force survey at RD Canners, Madang. A meeting involving the PNG and Australian Project leaders, National Fisheries Authority (NFA) staff and Dr Gumoi was held at the National Fisheries Authority, Port Moresby on July 19 to discuss the project in general and the design of the labour force survey in particular. The Australian project leader and project staff met with RD officials in Madang on July 20. A further meeting to discuss progress was held at NFA on July 22. NFA staff led by Mr Ronald Kuk made a further trip to Madang to discuss the labour force survey with RD staff. The labour force survey was carried out between November 14 and December 7. A total of 207 employees (approximately 10% of the labour force) was interviewed by three interviewers, supervised by Dr Gumoi and Mr Jerome Tioti of NFA. The survey obtained information on the family circumstances, skills, employment opportunities and working conditions of male and female skilled and unskilled workers. The results of the survey were entered in a spreadsheet file for analysis. The Australian project leader was provided with additional details on the operations of RD Canners and preparation of a draft benefit-cost model was commenced.

The results of the RD Canners labour force survey were analysed and two papers presenting the analysis were completed (see Section 4.4). A significant result of the analysis was the estimate of the shadow-price of labour which is a key variable in the benefit-cost model of the cannery. A draft version of the benefit-cost model was completed and the methodology and results were discussed in a series of papers (see Section 4.4). Three conference and seminar papers were prepared and presented (papers Section 4.4). The Australian project leader met with the NFA and FFA project personnel in Port Moresby October 24-26 and conducted three workshops on the benefit-cost model (see Section 4.5). These workshops introduced the developing country partners to the methodology, format and results of the model and provided the project leader with valuable suggestions for changes to reflect the situation and needs of the developing countries. In addition to the three project leaders (Ronald Kuk, Len Rodwell and Harry Campbell), the workshops were attended by 7 staff from NFA, one each from FFA, the Department of Trade and Industry, the Investment Promotion Authority, the Rural Coastal Fisheries Development Program, the National Research Institute and the University of PNG. Following the workshops the model was revised and made available on the project website.

The results of the RD Canners labour force survey were analysed and two papers presenting the analysis were completed (see Section 4.4). A significant result of the analysis was the estimate of the shadow-price of labour which is a key variable in the benefit-cost model of the cannery. A draft version of the benefit-cost model was completed and the methodology and results were discussed in a series of papers (see Section 4.4). Three conference and seminar papers were prepared and presented (papers Section 4.4). A member of the FFA staff, Linda Kaua, received additional training in the methodology and application of the cannery benefit-cost model developed in 2006 at a special training session conducted by the Australian Project Leader, September 17-18, 2007, at FFA headquarters in Honiara. Linda Kaua is now applying the model to evaluate a tuna cannery project in the Solomon Islands and she made a trip to Noro to collect data for this purpose.