Photo credit: Wafi Golpu JV
The State Negotiation Team (SNT) chairman, Dairi Vele, has expressed optimism about the future of Papua New Guinea, stating that the country is currently in a "golden era" of resource projects. Speaking after the signing of the Wafi-Golpu Framework Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), Vele noted that the country has the potential to benefit from significant revenues from a range of projects.
"It’s a golden era of resource projects. I did my first deal in 2008 for the PNG LNG and at that time we were looking at US$30 billion (K105 billion) in revenue over a short period of time," said Vele. "We now have Papua LNG which is just under another US$30 billion in revenue over a period of time. We have P’nyang which overall will get almost US$7 to US$9 billion (K24-K31 billion) and there’s another US$14 billion (K48 billion) in the project."
Vele went on to highlight the potential revenues from the Porgera and Wafi-Golpu projects, stating that Porgera is set to generate US$10 billion (K34 billion) over a 20-year period, while Wafi-Golpu is expected to generate US$23 billion (K80 billion) over a similar period. He also noted that the Golpu deposit, which is part of the Wafi-Golpu project, is still being explored and may yield even greater returns.
Despite the positive outlook, Vele acknowledged that Papua New Guinea must be mindful of the finite nature of its resources. "The only problem with it is that at some stage the resources will run out," he said. However, he emphasized that the country has a unique opportunity to develop and transform its economy in the coming decades.
"So Papua New Guinea, we have no excuse now. We should be developed like Singapore in the next 30 years, I really believe this," Vele said.
