The Papua New Guinea Mining and Petroleum Conference and Exhibition kicks off today for the next three days December 3-5 at the Stanley Hotel & Suites in Port Moresby in the nation’s capital.
More than 1,000 participants are expected to attend the biennial conference and expo, to be held in conjunction with the main conference.
Yesterday business houses participating in the exhibitions put finishing touches to their stalls for the start of conference today.
Major players in the local and global resources industry are expected to visit despite their being a downturn in the PNG and even the global economy.
Prime Minister James Marape is expected to officiate at the opening and address participants, many of them eager to hear what the Prime Minister has to say in regards to proposed changes to the Mining Act, which has raised concerns in the industry and calls for more collaboration and a relook at these proposed changes which may impact investment and mining operations.
The conference provides comprehensive technical updates, and offers an excellent opportunity to meet all the players in the PNG mining and petroleum industry, including Government, and for joint venture discussions, networking and promotions. The event also informs delegates on current activities in the PNG resource industry and highlights new developments, advanced prospects, new discoveries and exploration as well as economic and social achievements.
The conference week follows on from the passing of the 2020 budget by the new government led by Prime Minister James Marape – his government’s first national budget, which he has described as a ‘hard one’ in view of the current economic climate.
He said this yesterday when commenting on the Budget which was handed down by Treasurer Ian Ling-Stuckey last Thursday.
As the conference starts, some of PNG’s big-ticket projects like Wafi-Golpu mine, Porgera mine, P’nyang and Papua LNG projects are still in discussion stage.
