Santos recently announced that had it had come on board as a platinum sponsor of K300, 000 for the World Indigenous Business Forum (WIBF) 2023 which will be hosted in Port Moresby on October 24-26, 2023. Santos Papua New Guinea (PNG) Country Chairman Mr. Leon Buskens said they were more than happy to be a sponsor.
“We are happy to be a part of this inaugural event because it is showcasing the potential and the richness of Papua New Guinea businesses. As a leading company in the energy sector, we have been working with our landowner companies since day one and they are an integral part of our business. We have about 14 companies that we work with. Together we directly employ over 20, 000 Papua New Guineans. We have some world class landowner companies, and I would like to say they are evolving beyond just being landowner companies to becoming national and regional iconic companies. This sort of forum opens up that kind of thinking and we are excited to be part of this exciting event,” said Mr. Buskens.
Minister for International Trade and Investment, Hon. Richard Maru said he was extremely grateful to Santos for coming on board as a platinum sponsor for WIBF 2023.
“WIBF is a global event that happens once a year and it is an event that promotes indigenous businesses, recognizes indigenous businesses, and brings the opportunity for indigenous businesses to build networks with various indigenous businesses from around the world. For example, through the WIBF, PNG landowner companies can now start to partner Maori landowner and Aboriginal companies especially those who have mining leases and get to know them,” said Minister Maru.
“This is a really great opportunity for our indigenous businesses to forge new partnerships and start to do business amongst each other. The days of us doing just informal sales is gone. We must now start to build multimillion and multibillion companies, employing our people and generating wealth for our citizens. We as a Government is very grateful that WIBF will be hosted here,” said Minister Maru.
Minister Maru said the whole event would cost just under K6 million to host. Out of that the Government of Papua New Guinea will contribute K2 million and the rest will come from sponsors.
“We are extremely grateful that Santos is the second corporate platinum sponsor after Teachers Savings and Loans Society (TISA). Two Government Departments (Department of International Trade and Investment, and Special Economic Zone Authority) have also come on board as platinum sponsors. We are also grateful that NCDC has indicated to support us fund the event as the host city. We are hoping that more corporate businesses would also come on board as sponsors following the fine examples led by TISA and Santos as we still need more funds to support us host this global event which will be at the scale of APEC 2018 but smaller. It is a great opportunity to showcase our country as an investment destination, a tourism destination, rich with culture, and a country with friendly and welcoming people,” said Minister Maru.
