Trade Minister Richard Maru urged Australian and Papua New Guinean business leaders to look seriously at diversifying their areas of investments. Business Advantage PNG reports from last week’s Australia–Papua New Guinea Business Forum in Lae. Maru was addressing the 39th annual conference of the Australia-Papua New Guinea Business Council and the Papua New Guinea Business Council, held last week in Lae. It was the first time the conference was held in Lae and despite the

With the Papua New Guinea Government highlighting the need for more affordable housing in the country, not-for-profit organisation, Community Housing, believes it has the solution. Papua New Guinea has not escaped the usual spike in housing prices that accompanies major industrial developments, such as the PNG LNG project. Housing prices in PNG have risen to levels out of reach for many businesses and communities, prompting the PNG Government last year to announce plans for the

Australia’s Trade and Investment Minister, Andrew Robb, has called for a ‘collaborative approach’ with Papua New Guinea to take advantage of rising global demands for food, energy and water. In an address to the 31st Australia–Papua New Guinea Business Forum in the industrial city of Lae this week, Andrew Robb said there were close similarities in Australia’s and Papua New Guinea’s economic needs and potential which both should work to capitalise on. He later told

Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s says Papua New Guinea’s banks operate in a ‘high risk’ environment in spite of LNG revenues and increased infrastructure spending by Govenrment. S&P analysts also suggest PNG needs more policies which promote economic growth beyond the resources sector. Three banks dominate Papua New Guinea’s banking system—BSP, ANZ and Westpac. According to the latest Standard & Poor’s Banking Industry Country Risk Assessment for PNG, this limits competition and results in a

Papua New Guinea’s economy is now emerging from a period of hiatus following the completion of its massive liquefied gas project. Andrew Wilkins talks exclusively to some of PNG’s top executives to find out their views on the economy. In May 2014, Papua New Guinea achieved what some thought it would never do—it joined the exclusive club of liquefied natural gas-exporting countries. The US$19 billion ExxonMobil-led PNG LNG project, which achieved financial completion in early

The new CEO of Digicel PNG believes the company is evolving into a provider of content as well as supplying connectivity. Maurice McCarthy tells Business Advantage PNG his first priority is to increase access to Digicel’s expanded network. Business Advantage PNG (BAPNG): In Fiji, you built up Digicel’s corporate business as well as its retail structure. What are your priorities in PNG? Maurice McCarthy (MMcC): In line with Digicel’s global approach, we in Papua New

The fall in global oil and gas prices will reduce the Papua New Guinea government’s revenue by at least K1.1 billion in 2016. A new Budget strategy is needed, argue economists Stephen Howe and Paul Flanagan, who suggest a solution may lie in the government selling its Oil Search shares. The extent to which falling international commodity prices will hit the PNG has been revealed by the ANZ Bank’s Pacific Quarterly Review. While the authors