Services companies and contractors are often a casualty of a mining industry downturn. Business Advantage PNG talks to companies servicing the sector in Papua New Guinea on how they have coped with the downturn, and the potential for a turnaround in the country. Despite difficult conditions in Papua New Guinea’s mining industry, Lihirian landowner company, Anitua Mining Services, is hopeful of a rebound and is considering a number of new opportunities that would grow its

LAE NADZAB ROAD The last settlement house at 9 mile will be removed today and PNG Power will be cutting the power to the old line, and be energizing the new lines. See the PPL Notice as attached to this newsletter of power disruptions in this area over the weekend. Whilst the power is off, the tree cutter will take advantage to cut the tops of some of the trees in the 3 mile area.

With construction and first shipment of gas completed ahead of time, the giant ExxonMobil-led PNG LNG project has proven Papua New Guinea is a viable place to carry out major resources projects. In this exclusive valedictory interview with Business Advantage PNG, outgoing ExxonMobil PNG Managing Director Peter Graham reflects on the lessons learned. Business Advantage PNG (BAPNG): What was the critical factor in getting the PNG LNG project completed on time? Peter Graham (PG): Alignment

Domestic and international expansion is on the cards for Bismark Maritime as Papua New Guinea’s shipping sector delivers opportunities for additional players. CEO Jamie Sharp tells Business Advantage PNG of the company’s plans. Emerging players like Bismark Maritime Ltd can only be a positive for Papua New Guinea’s shipping sector as crucial industries, such as oil and gas, continue to develop, according to the company’s Chief Executive Officer, Jamie Sharp. Over the past seven years,

The cruise news looks good. According to a report by the Pacific Islands Forum in mid-2013, the cruise industry has grown 125 per cent since 2005 and 143 new ships have been launched. Particularly strong growth has been recorded in the Asian and Australian markets; a record 834,000 Australians took a cruise holiday in 2013. That puts Papua New Guinea in a geographically advantageous position. What’s more, there’s plenty of room for expansion: currently only

Exporting all future PNG gas extract for income may not be the best use of this remarkable resource. LNG should also be used for domestic power consumption and petrochemical feedstock to boost industry and provide much-needed jobs, argues Petroleum Operations Advisor to the World Bank, Michael McWalter. The PNG LNG Project is a great achievement. The project leaders have turned remote, distressed and valueless gas resources into commercially viable and producing gas reserves aimed at

Welcome to the first Newsletter for 2015 and I hope the festive season was a good one and did not stress you out too much. The New Year definitely did not start off on a good note, with the dreadful killing of Mrs Moana Pisimi and murder of Tan Tiam Teng. Moana was the wife of Thomas Pisimi the Managing Director of our member R & Sons Construction Company. For those who don’t know, R

Telecommunications wholesaler PNG DataCo Limited has been set up as part of a restructure of Papua New Guinea’s telecommunications industry. Business Advantage PNG discusses its critical role with its Chairman Reuben Kautu, an entrepreneur with a strong background of commercial and strategic management, developed during roles with BP, ExxonMobil and, more recently, Telikom PNG’s subsidiary Kalang Advertising Limited. Business Advantage PNG (BAPNG): What is the role of PNG DataCo? Reuben Kautu (RK): DataCo is an

As Papua New Guinea enters 2015, changes in the global economy are likely to present major challenges, while local investment in infrastructure continues. Business Advantage PNG looks ahead to consider what 2015 may bring business. In his comments about the September 2014 Quarterly Economic Bulletin last week, Loi M Banaki, Governor of the country’s central bank, warned of inflationary pressures due to a depreciating kina (which has depreciated by 20.4 percent from its high of

From modest beginnings, Papua’s New Guinea’s largest non-bank financial services company, the Kina Group, has come a long way. Chief Executive Officer Syd Yates explains the Kina vision to Business Advantage PNG. Since it started as Kina Securities, a small funds administrator and stockbroker, some 17 years ago, the Kina Group has grown into a model diversified financial services group in Papua New Guinea. Today, Kina is also a funds manager with over K4.7 billion

Despite much that is good in the 2015 Budget, the Papua New Guinea government’s medium-term fiscal plans are a concern, writes Paul Flanagan, former senior executive in the Australian Treasury, and advisor to the PNG Treasury from 2011 to 2013. Papua New Guinea is facing growing economic problems, with foreign exchange controls hurting businesses and printing money possibly starting inflationary pressures, so getting fiscal policy right in this budget was absolutely vital for the country’s

Pacific leaders have been the recipients of largesse from India’s Prime Minister and China’s President, who met in Fiji last week. Meanwhile, a new ANZ report details the increasingly close links between China’s aid and its investment in the Pacific. China’s President Xi Jinping met with the leaders of Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Samoa, Vanuatu, Micronesia, Cook Islands and Niue on the first state visit to Fiji by a Chinese leader. It followed the