Prime Minister James Marape said that in the next year, the government plans to focus on stabilising the economy.“We are using our own budget to ensure stimulus is maintained in our economy,” he said. “The construction activity is taking place across the country.”Marape added that he wasn’t the cause of lost jobs.“Far from the truth. Companies shut down a...

The National Development Bank (NDB) desires to buy Westpac Bank.According to chairman Michael Mell, this is part of its long-term goals of going commercial. He said in a press conference in Port Moresby that a monopoly has no room and wants Westpac Bank to consider this offer. “I have set up a committee from both NDB and People’s Micro Bank. We have been ...

PNG has good investment opportunities, but fewer as compared to a few years ago. This, according to Trukai CEO Alan Preston, who said that it takes extra precaution to invest now. He added that this pandemic has brought many challenges to businesses and customers alike, and still, these people are coping better than most around the world. He said that ove...

In creating a steady stream of income, the people of Bana in Bougainville launched the Bana special economic zone (BSEZ), which is a project intended to form development by tapping into agriculture, tourism and the fisheries industry. This project also creates opportunities for Bougainville by attracting investments to the economic zone. The future of thi...

Kumul Petroleum Holdings Ltd (KPHL) hopes to work with the developer of the Papua LNG Project and its partners.According to Managing director Wapu Sonk, KPHL hoped to work with Total and the Papua LNG joint venture partners to start the front-end engineering design work and begin the liquefied natural gas (LNG) financing and marketing work.It can be recal...

Swire Shipping recently enhanced both its North Asia Express (NAX) and Southeast Asia (SEA) servicesSwire Shipping operates 13 liner services connecting over 400 ports via an extensive network of services in the Asia-Pacific and globally. Dedicated to facilitating and growing trade in regions where it operates, the company operates a fleet of owned and ch...

Researchers from Australia and the US have come to the conclusion that treating mine tailing with lime aided in stabilising arsenic in soil and sediments around the mine - which results in preventing toxic chemicals from remaining dissolved in water and impacting people and the environment. This comes after researchers have conducted a study at the Porger...

Following payment of an interim dividend of PGK150 million last September, Ok Tedi Mining Ltd (OTML) has said that the OTML Board has a final dividend of PGK400 million for 2020.According to Chairman Sir Moi Avei, in spite of the health crisis, “OTML has had a strong and profitable year and this has enabled the Company to complete the PGK800 million self-...

The Papua New Guinea National Stock Exchange (PNGX) has encouraged foreign businesses in the country to register with the national stock exchange. According to chairman David Lawrence, this will give Papua New Guineans more opportunities to have an ownership interest in the wealth of the country. “Publicly listed companies are significantly under-represen...

Replace foreign fabricated steel in the market.This was a statement given by Steel Industries chairman Frank McQuoid who witnessed a significant decline in the steel fabrication market. He added that the way to move forward was to replace foreign fabricated steel. In the past two decades, PNG fabricators lost up to 80 per cent of the structural steel fabr...

Total senior management team will be in the country this week to talk about the next steps in the Papua LNG Project.According to Petroleum Minister Kerenga Kua, the meeting between the government and the developer of this project had been planned last week but there were delays on clearances and protocols. They are to arrive this week.The announcements fo...

Through a share placement, Gold developer Geopacific Resources has raised A$140 million to invest for the development of the Woodlark gold project in Papua New Guinea. The placement will be finished in two tranches. The first tranche consists of 43.7-million shares with a cost of 42c each for an initial A$18.4-million under the existing placement company ...

Pioneering research being undertaken in Papua New Guinea by IFC and the Business Coalition For Women will for the first time measure the costs, and crucially, also the benefits to businesses of workplace responses to gender-based violence. The groundbreaking project, launched this month, aims to build evidence demonstrating the benefits to business of p...

For five years the Business Coalition for Women’s leadership training program has been getting results for PNG women and the businesses that employ them. Nearly 200 women from 60 organisations representing a diversity of industries all over the country have graduated from the Coalition’s Certificate IV in Leadership & Management, with many of them bei...

Gold BCR (GBCR): Building an empire of enduring wealth based on innovative blockchain technologies with junior mining companies. In this new era, modern science and innovation technologies are changing rapidly every day. Innovative new disruptive technologies ideas in mining are now meeting together with blockchain. These new disruptive technologies such ...

Cabinet has approved the K20 million submission to establish the facilities of the National Agriculture Quarantine and Inspection Authority (Naqia) across the country.According to Agriculture and Livestock Minister John Simon, “The managing director Joel Alu and I took the submission to the Cabinet in which we got an approval of roughly K20 million to set...

In the next four years (2021 to 2024), the export and production value of spices is expected to rise from K200 million to K500 million.According to the chief executive officer for PNG Spice Industry Board Michael Waisime, plans are to promote and develop a spice industry towards a sustainable economy. He said that to increase the production, training of f...

By Roger Kewa Avinaga Like any other industries that have been impacted by the COVID-19 in 2020, the mining industry has been impacted by the pandemic. The industry has been confronted with numerous challenges. The operations of the mines shut down, some mines have suspended or scaled down operations while others have gone into isolation mode. On the comm...

Local contractors in Porgera have lost an estimated K111 million since the mine shut down.This was disclosed by the Porgera Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) who according to its president, Nickson Pakea, said there were around 136 local contractors who provide servicing, support and heavy equipment parts.He added that businesses in the area have fe...

After an election of its new executives led by President Ian Taruita, the Papua New Guinea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PNGCCI) said that it will build a 100-day work plan for its profile. Aside from Taruita, elected are the following: John Byrne (vice-president Momase and Highlands), Jeff Abel (vice-president Southern), David Stein (vice-president I...

In a statement released by the Independent Consumer Competition of the suggested take over bid, Paradise Company Limited has verified that they are in a dialogue with Kraft Heinz about obtaining Hugo Canning Limited. This makes submission seeking clearance for Hugo Canning Company Ltd, a subsidiary of Kraft Heinz Group. According to Paradise Company Ltd G...

Kumul Training Institute – School of Aviation Studies, a privately-run institution, was recently given the signal to provide aircraft engineering training in the country.PNG Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) acting managing director and chief executive officer Wilson Sagati has presented the school with Certificate Number 141/003 at CASA headquarters...

Kina Petroleum Corporation has submitted an application to delist from the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).This follows a delist from Papua New Guinea’s stock exchange (PNGX) and ASX, but subject to receiving approval from ASX to continue with the ASX delisting.It added that the notice of meeting for the shareholders of the company would be convened ...

With the resealing and the road maintenance project to start next year on the New Britain Highway from Kokopo to Bitagunan, Cocoa farmers in East New Britain (ENB) will have better access to markets.This follows after the PNG-Australia partnership has awarded a K9.3 million contract. According to the Australian High Commission, connecting farmers has been...