Photo credit: Papua New Guinea Today

Mark T. Robinson has been named group chief executive officer of Bank of South Pacific Financial Group Limited.

With over 30 years of experience in establishing, developing, and emerging economies, Mr. Robinson is a senior financial services executive and a seasoned banking Chief Executive Officer.

Mr. Robinson is the best candidate to lead the bank in its next stage of expansion, according to BSP Financial Group Chairman Sir Kostas Constantinou. Mr. Robinson has important knowledge in global emerging markets in wholesale, retail, and investment banking.

Following a thorough and comprehensive worldwide executive search, managed by Ashurst Board Advisory, which took into account highly qualified applicants from throughout the world and the Pacific area, Mr. Robinson was appointed.

Sir Kostas stated that Mr. Robinson's track record of creating and carrying out strategic plans that included high-quality revenue growth across several geographies, including operating in difficult situations, impressed the Board.

Sir Kostas said that Mr. Robinson had extensive knowledge of the banking industry in the Asia-Pacific area and was well-versed in many different international economies.

Chief Executive Officer of Commercial Bank International, a publicly traded bank with headquarters in the United Arab Emirates, Chief Executive Officer of ANZ Banking Group's operations for Southeast Asia, and a number of senior executive positions with Citibank, including ones in India, Russia, Turkey, and Hungary, are just a few of Mr. Robinson's previous positions.

Mr. Robinson expressed his happiness at having been given this position in such a dynamic area with so much promise.

He claims that BSP Financial Group has a highly talented staff and is well down the path of digital transformation. He adds he is looking forward to working with the team to further enhance customer experience and look into new growth potential.

The regulator, the Bank of Papua New Guinea, has approved Mr. Robinson's appointment; the date of his start will be decided once PNG officials have approved his work permit and visa.

In the meanwhile, Sir Kostas expressed his deep appreciation to Robin Fleming, the departing CEO.

According to him, Mr. Fleming's efforts have helped the bank raise its profitability from K407 million in 2012 to K1, 075 million in 2021, dramatically develop its client base and deposits, and spread BSP throughout the area since his appointment in 2013.

Mr. Fleming, according to Sir Kostas, has also spearheaded the digital transformation initiative, which is essential to the long-term viability and future of the Bank.

After 42 years with the Bank, Mr. Fleming leaves BSP at the end of this year.

Reference: Papua New Guinea Today (3 November 2022). “Bank of South Pacific Financial Group ltd appoints new CEO”.

Photo credit: Post Courier

The American Embassy in Port Moresby has called on the Ministry of International Trade and Investment expressing their strong interest to work with the Ministry to bring in more foreign direct investments from the United States to Papua New Guinea.

American Embassy in Port Moresby Charge d'Affaires Joseph Zadrozny stated that the US has increased its presence in Papua New Guinea by building a new embassy with more employees and is undoubtedly eager to see further investments from the US.

The improvement of internal security to make the country more appealing to investors and trade and investment were the Marape-Rosso Government's two top goals, Minister for International Trade and Investment Richard Maru informed Mr. Zadrozny.

“We are setting up Special Economic Zones (SEZs) to particularly attract foreign investors, similar to all Asian Tiger economies and their successes using SEZs to achieve inclusive economic growth,” he said.

“The particular sectors that we are concentrating on are agriculture – we want to process all our raw materials and replace all food imports, fisheries – we want to build Pacific Maritime International Zone and process all our fish on-shore, and forestry – downstream processing of all our logs.”

The construction of fish canneries in Madang and Manus is also being considered, according to Mr. Maru, who also welcomed investors in the manufacturing sector, privately operated power plants, private educational institutions, and other fresh and exciting investment prospects in all sectors.

He gave Mr. Zadrozny the assurance that the Ministry would do all in its power to help sincere US businessmen who were interested in making investments in some of the important PNG areas.

Reference: Post-Courier (31 October 2022). “US Embassy Keen To Work With Ministry Of International Trade And Investment”. 

Papua New Guinea faces competition for technical workforce as the government pushes ahead with projects in the mining, petroleum and gas resource sector in 2023 onwards.

Projects like Wafi-Golpu, Papua LNG, Porgera, and P'nyang are some of the ones that are likely to get off the ground, according to Richard Kassman, Senior Vice President of the PNG Chamber of Mines and Petroleum. However, the concern for the National Government and the industry is to look at having enough Papua New Guinean skilled workforce to cater to the expanding projects.

He mentioned this when the Petroleum National Content Policy White Paper was presented and discussed with the PNG Chamber of Mines and Petroleum members.

The design of the Petroleum National Content policy was made possible by the National Executive Council's approval of the overachieving national content strategy in September 2021.

The National Content Policy for the Petroleum Sector aims to maximise the employment of PNG's people, labour force, local resources, and services in all initiatives related to the petroleum industry.

The Department of Petroleum and Energy will be Mr. Kassman's initial point of contact with the government, according to him, given the competition for resources is restricted.

“If two mining projects take off next year and I hope they do, it will be fantastic for the country.

Then I want the government to understand that we are going to be competing and therefore each of us will have less PNG working for us,” he said.

“The bad news is, we have to bring in experts to work for us, this is the conversation we want to have with the government.”

He stated that from the standpoint of Papua, the first conversation they want to have is to plan and put in place a reporting structure procedure to guarantee that high-quality, private data information is sent to pertinent authorities like the IRC and the bank of PNG when necessary.

Before the NEC approves the Petroleum National Content Policy, the PNG Chamber of Mines and Petroleum is anticipated to offer a thorough response to its feedback.

Reference: Wohi, Lorraine. Post-Courier (31 October 2022). “Resource Skills Lacking”.

The recent PNG Industrial and Mining Resource Exhibition and Conference that was held in Port Moresby recently for two consecutive days had a positive turnout by exhibitors as well as representatives and attendees from different companies and businesses in the industrial & mining sector when they showcased their various products and services to potential buyers and clients.

More than 55 exhibition booths were set up by Exhibitioners and participants at the Sir John Guise indoor complex mostly by businesses from the industrial and mining sector to network and showcase their services and product capabilities.

During the course of the two-day event there were various speakers from different companies within the industrial and mining sector as well as stakeholder organizations that presented on their companies’ products, services, developments and what they can provide and offer. Some notable presentations where from the gold sponsor of the event, Motor Vehicle Insurance Limited (MVIL), Civil Aviation Safety Authority of PNG (CASA PNG), Cyber Security PNG Ltd and Orica Mining Services.

The expo drew interest and extensive support from key stakeholders in government, and representatives from all business sectors as well as tertiary institutions who were pursuing courses in fields aligned with some of the exhibitors’ specialties.

The exhibition and conference were highlighted as a premier meeting place for industry trade and a forum for establishing high-quality customer contacts. There was also a special 'Buyers Lounge' for suppliers and purchasing officers to meet and purchase products and equipment.

Managing Director and Chief Technical Officer of Benchmark Industrial, Micheal Babul expressed his sentiments and held the exhibition and conference in high regard and was appreciative of the event and all its sponsors.

"It has really helped attract customers and clients to recognise the value and potential of our company's products and the services that we provide, in fact we have sold a number of our equipment and products worth more than K100,000 and gained a lot more clients during this expo and we are really appreciative and happy that we attended as exhibitors". Mr Babul said.

The purpose of the conference was to promote, harness and bring together companies in the industrial and mining sector to expose and network their products and services. It was held to bring Financiers, suppliers, logistic and procurement service providers and other interested parties to attend from both the public and private sector.

The Office of PNG Cooperatives Society were recently presented a cheque of K100,000 by Minister for Commerce and Industry and MP for Sohe in Oro Province Hon. Henry Jons Amuli on behalf of his Sohe District Development Authority to be presented to Oro Kaiva Coffee Growers Cooperatives (OKCGC).

During the presentation Hon. Henry Jons Amuli said Building a strong economy based on investments and growth in the primary industries such as coffee, cocoa, oil palm, vanilla and others remain a key priority of the current Government.

The minister said coffee production in Oro has been on a huge decline over the years due to lack of support for farmers to gain better returns from their labour. “Most of our coffee growers have abandoned their coffee blocks because they were not able to get a better pricing. They feel they were not being rewarded well on their labour,” Minister Amuli said.

He said the Government under the leadership of Prime Minister James Marape has identified the issues and provided much needed interventions such as the price support program and funding support for small to medium size businesses since coming into office.

“The Government also made available funding to support the growth of primary industries and this vision and commitment will unleash the rural economic potential,” he said.

He also committed K1 million from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to support coffee rehabilitation and production in the Oro Province through the Oro Kaiva Coffee Growers Cooperatives.

“Under my Ministry, we are looking at supporting cooperatives and small to medium size businesses in the primary industry sector at community levels. “I want our rural communities to feel the Government’s economic intervention programs.

They must be economically empowered to improve their social living standards. That is our focus, and we will continue to provide support and interventions throughout the country,” Amuli said.

He urged the two conflicting factions of the OKCGC to resolve their conflict and work in unity to serve the interest of coffee growers.

“I want to place you the executives on notice to solve your in-house issues and work together as one team to receive the funding and revive coffee in Oro.”

Registrar of PNG Cooperative Society Brian Waffi thanked Minister Amuli and said this was the first time in Oro where a district has provided funding support to the PNG Cooperative Society office to assist farmers.

“You are the Minister responsible for cooperatives and you have set the right example to allocate funding from your district to support cooperatives.

“This is the way forward to drive the Government’s economic agenda. Government agencies at national, sub-national and local levels must all work together,” Mr Waffi said.

Photo credit: Paga Hill Estate

Large scale Cocoa farming is not something that is familiar in the highlands region of Papua New Guinea but the Chimbu Province in the highlands region is breaking barriers by engaging in large scale Cocoa farming for commercial purposes.

For many this may sound peculiar because we have never heard of Cocoa being farmed in large scale for commercial purpose in Chimbu or any other parts of the highlands region for that matter. This is because cocoa and other crops that are grown in the coastal region do not adapt and grow well and yield in the highlands which is due to the cold weather and climate.

But that has changed, thanks to climate change where there are more than a million cocoa trees growing in the Chimbu Province and cocoa farmers in the province are aiming to grow a million more cocoa trees by mid 2023.

In Karamui alone there are more than 200,000 mature cocoa trees that are growing, making good money for the farmers in the area. There is a steadily increasing 30 hectare cocoa plantation known as Sorita cocoa plantation located in Karamui, Salt Nomane District in the Chimbu Province. From these 30 hectares they have already harvested and sold cocoa beans to the international market.

Sorita Cocoa farm is the largest cocoa plantation in the highlands region and is owned by Norman Mondo, who has more than 20 hectares of cocoa plantation in Karamui and has a Cocoa Exporting licence.

Cocoa board Chief Executive Officer Boto Gaupu presented a Cocoa export licence to Karamui cocoa farmer Norman Mondo a couple of years ago.

Mr Mondo is slowly expanding his cocoa plantation to meet the world demand. Mostly he employs the local villagers in the Karamui area to work in his plantation.

Karamui cocoa came second in PNG Cocoa of Excellency show in Lae, Morobe Province in 2019 and also came in at 50th place amongst 375 countries who competed for the world Cocoa Excellency show in France last year.

World Cocoa analysts have labelled the Cocoa beans from the Chimbu province to be some of the biggest Cocoa beans internationally as the cocoa beans that have been produced in the province are sampled to be quite huge.

While the cocoa farm in Karamui is expanding every day, the people of the neighbouring Gumine District have also planted more than 200,000 cocoa trees and are continuing to plant this year to reach the one million mark.

The Gumine Cocoa farmers were supported by their former local MP Nick Kuman, who had urged his people to seriously look at cocoa as an alternate cash crop apart from coffee. He stressed that cocoa has the potential to produce high yield and good returns in income to the farmers.

The former MP had given out K2 million in Small to Medium Enterprise (SME) funds for the Gumine district and wants farmers in this area to utilise these funds to tap into the cultivating and farming of Cocoa.

In relation, Field service quality assurance manager of the Cocoa Board of PNG Mr Nathan Wartovo said cocoa normally grows in the coastal areas but today it is growing well in the highlands region because of climate change.

"Karamui in Chimbu province has been the leader in the highlands region in cocoa farming but now we also have farmers in Eastern Highlands, Jiwaka and Western Highlands farming cocoa". Wartovo said.

He said farmers in these areas were brought in by the Cocoa Board to display their cocoa at the Highlands Cocoa show hosted earlier this year in Kundiawa, Chimbu Province.

It is already becoming a reality that Chimbu Province has become the first province in the highlands region to farm and produce high quality cocoa and is competitive in the country and on the international market against other cocoa beans.

Photo credit: Duffy Coffee

Port Moresby based premium coffee shop Duffy PNG a subsidiary and business arm of Pacific Industries Ltd is currently embracing a potential shift into China's consumer market. China is the world's biggest consumer market and a surge in coffee consumers in China has made way and provided an avenue for Duffy PNG to make an entry to market premium high specialty grade PNG coffee to meet the coffee market in China.

With an increasing population of over 1 billion, a small 1 per cent increase in the Chinese population of regular coffee drinkers directly equates to 10 million new regular coffee drinkers and consumers in China alone.

Travers Chue owner of Duffy PNG is preparing to expand overseas, marketing Papua New Guinea specialty coffee and has been collaborating with small holder groups for the past 5 years mainly in Jiwaka province to produce premium coffee to meet global consumer standards.

"PNG, of course, has some of the best coffee in the world but there was no barista culture to make the most of it". When we first started Duffy’s, our goal was to create the first specialty coffee house in PNG, but now we want to manufacture premium specialty coffee in PNG and export them to China and across the globe,’says Duffy’s owner, Travers Chue.

Duffy PNG has been running an incentivised initiative program in which it provides financial literacy, assistance of asset acquisition for local farmers, building the capacity of small holder farms and rewarding farmers for compliance. This initiative within the company's program has seen many of the small holder farms improve their quality in production and consistency in supplying quantity.

Chue’s approach to expanding to China is based around being a coffee shop and coffee brand that originates ‘from this exotic and mysterious land called PNG.’The secret, he says, is producing consistently high-quality beans.

To establish a presence into the Chinese consumer market will mean greater demand for production on the farms and on the company itself, but Chue is confident that their quality systems to produce premium home grown PNG coffee will not be disrupted in their efforts to meet the demand.

One of the challenges that they admittedly have faced over time is the lack of financial literacy amongst the small holder farmers, especially with many opting for roadside selling as a way of making fast income, this option has made many farmers pay less attention in following coffee processes to produce high specialty grade coffee which sells at a higher price and is what PNG coffee is renowned for.

He also praises the Coffee Industry Corporation for its annual PNG Cupping Competition.

‘We are trying to teach the farmers that, if their coffee is getting higher cupping scores due to implementing and following strict procedures and practice, then we the roasters are willing to pay higher prices for their hard work.

‘Growers need to see that there is more profit to be made in producing higher grade coffee, from which they can earn more’

He says it is the only way coffee farmers can overcome poor infrastructure, erratic weather conditions, deteriorating tools and minimal training.

‘Most people who know PNG most probably know the country for its great coffee—and we intend serving them the best premium grade specialty coffee that PNG has to offer. This is going to be key to success in China.

However, Chue believes that over time and with more training programs and interventions such as Duffy PNG's initiative program, PNG coffee will earn back its specialty grade status on the global coffee map.

Photo: Sergei Mossine

The emergence and expansion of the Vitis Industries is the story of a husband and wife's sheer hard work that has turned a small alcohol brewing company into an agriculture, manufacturing, and retail giant in Papua New Guinea. Vitis industries is a family business owned by Sergei Mossine, his wife Vikki and their four children.

The story highlights a family's commitment, determination, and challenges. Hardworking couple and husband and wife team - Sergei from Russian origin and Vikki from the Central Province in Papua New Guinea built up the Vitis industries Ltd Group for the past 18 years to its status.

Vitis Industries Ltd Group is a 100 per cent PNG nationally owned company that started with only six employees in 2004 - to more than 2,000 plus workers today. From its humble beginnings in 2004, the family company initially started buying coffee and vanilla beans from local farmers in Kairiku, Rigo and Goilala districts of the Central Province to distill five Russian brands of alcoholic beverages.

Today the Mossine family currently manufactures and retails alcohol beverages, wine, beer, water, fruit cordials, cigarettes, and food products in four different Provinces in PNG and are still expanding into other parts of the country. Apart from this they also own a vineyard, coffee and vanilla plantation and a coffee factory to produce washed parchment coffee in Wau Bulolo, Morobe Province.

As put simply by Sergei Mossine; "In business it is important to have partners that you can trust and share your responsibilities. A good wife is a natural business partner for her husband in life and in business".

Vitis General Manager Sergei Mossine is a former Soviet Union Army Lieutenant who served in combat operations in Africa and Afghanistan in his youth, Sergei later gained a scientific degree of Doctor of Science in Thermodynamics and became the Vice-Professor and Scientific Secretary of Moscow Railways University. He has also worked in state owned and private companies in various capacities such as food manufacturing, agro-industrial projects, distillation, equipment manufacturing, banking, computing, import-export trading, and property development until his move to PNG in 1994.

His main role in Vitis industries is the development of all products (spirits, coffee products, food & beverage, beer, and wine), banking, money management, production, construction, property development and sales.

A huge population of the PNG community find the prices of Vitis products affordable compared to larger established competitors.

"We started Vitis Industries with six employees and first five alcoholic beverages: Citronka, Tonika, Vodka Extra, Vodka Northern and Vodka Siberian. It was a small share of market then, " Mr Mossine said.

Today his Wife and himself have expanded the Vitis Business Group with various business ventures and a total of more than 2,000 employees.

Vitis has also expanded their own retail outlet in the Nation's Capital of Port Moresby with a three-story shopping mall building which includes a supermarket, department store, pharmacy, Liquor shop, seven food outlets, fashion shop, sports shop and 50 other shops that sell different products and provide different services.

Mr Mossine said his main objective is to invest in PNG, we must re-invest all our profits in PNG to create jobs and opportunities.

"It’s not easy to manage such a big and diversified business, especially in a country like Papua New Guinea with underdeveloped infrastructure, expensive and unreliable electricity, poor banking system, shortage of experienced managers and skilled workers, expensive coastal shipping, high taxes etc.

"But we want to help the country to be more developed, to create more jobs and to process locally grown crops in PNG to give a better chance in life to our employees regardless of the obstacles.

"When we develop our business then we must also set up our new goals, new targets and new ventures. We became involved in the coffee business because in 2010 our main popular alcoholic drink was 'Coffee Punch' and it was quite expensive to buy roasted coffee from other factories, that was when we decided that instead of spending money on expensive roasted coffee, we will utilise this money to establish our own coffee plantation and coffee factory to reduce extra spending and cost.

"It is a similar situation with retail business, many shops had hesitated to sell our products, therefore we decided to also invest in our own retail shops and outlets as well as wholesale warehouses.

"In terms of issues with electricity, we have installed solar panels on our buildings because the price of electricity from PNG Power Ltd is very expensive and there are too many constant blackouts. With solar energy we generate about 500,000 KWA at our processing plant and 300,000 KWA at our shopping mall in Port Moresby. Solar power has huge potential, but it is completely neglected by the PNG Government," Mr Mossine said.

In relation to coastal and domestic shipping, "A 20ft container from Port Moresby to Kokopo is three times more expensive than to deliver the same 20ft container from Port Moresby to Shanghai. Due to these amounting expenses, we diverted our spending to purchasing a ship to carry and transport our products and containers across PNG" he said.

Despite the relentless challenges and obstacles in maintaining a successful business, Mr Mossine wished PNG a great future and prosperity moving forward. The example of the growth and success of Vitis shows that anything can be achieved through dedication and hard work.

"To become successful a businessman or woman requires special talent, patience and vision. Working together we can move PNG into a modern industrialized era to create prosperity and a decent livelihood for every Papua New Guinean". Mr Mossine said.

The third EU-PNG business, trade and investment Conference is a demonstration of the European Union’s commitment to strengthen business, trade and investment ties between PNG, member states of the EU-Pacific Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) and the Asia, Pacific region as a whole. This year’s edition attracted more than 700 participants from both the government and private sector in Europe and Papua New Guinea including participants from other Pacific islands countries. The conference held from 11-12 October 2022 at the APEC Haus in Port Moresby, was preceded by a European economic diplomacy week and ended with an international press visit to the provinces. 

The business conference was highly valued for its practical approach including the opening speech by the Minister for International Trade Richard Maru who provided an overview of the PNG strategy to further deepen the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA). The presence of Minister Maru and his vice minister Kessy Sawang who is one of the two women MPs in the National Parliament, showed an unprecedented engagement from the PNG Government and a positive sign for future sustainability of the event which the European Union will cease to fund after next year’s edition.

The French Ambassador to PNG Guillaume Lemoine, Minister for International Trade Richard Maru and vice Minister for International Trade Kessy Sawang were guest speakers at the conference.

The European Union is the main importer of PNG agricultural products with special mention of premium products. In terms of PNG exports in the last 5 years, Europe stands third behind Asia and Oceania. In addition, the EU has committed more than EUR 100 million to support trade related stakeholders and agriculture in key commodities since 2016 and committed more than EUR 37 million regionally under the Pacific Regional and Integration Support (PRISE) Programme. Finally, the most beneficial Free Trade Agreement for Papua New Guinea is with the European Union namely the EPA signed in 2009.

This EPA allows all products from PNG duty free, quota free into the EU market including all tuna processed in PNG even if caught by non-PNG vessels. In the case of fisheries, the EPA has had a significant impact creating more than 12,000 jobs in PNG, mainly for women, and multiplied by 50 the value of PNG fish exports to the EU to over 200 million US dollars.

European Union’s support has targeted key PNG commodities like cocoa, fisheries, vanilla, coconut and kava. The EU further supported upskilling of key stakeholders in business, trade and investment including key PNG departments, agencies and laboratories.

The two-day conference conducted in parallel with a Business Fair including PNG SMEs from different provinces, provided an opportunity for participants to increase their networking prospects and likewise gave small medium enterprises (SMEs) an opportunity not only to display and sell their products but to find a potential market.

The two days discussions and target market analysis presentations generated great interest from participants including those who joined online. The level of participation showed that the interest was not only growing within PNG but in other EPA countries and generally from the Pacific island countries.

The main messages delivered during the conference were: the importance of strengthening trade and investment ties between the EU and PNG through the full utilisation of the Economic Partnership Agreement, skills development, global value chains, regional integration, good governance, social enterprises and corporate social responsibility and the importance of sound regulatory framework.

This two-day conference was completed by the European Economic Diplomacy Week supported by European companies in PNG, the business trade and investment technical workshop, and the press visit to Kokopo in East New Britain and Buka in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville provided an added value to the conference. The complementary events highlighted the EU's commitment to support the development of EU trade and investment in Papua New Guinea as well as promote sustainable economic development in the country.

The EU is already cosying in coordination with local authorities on the scope and organisation of the 4th conference to be held in 2023.

The New Porgera Limited now stands as the guiding platform to ensure proper governance and transparency of the operations of the mine, once reopened, will be unlike before.

New Porgera Limited chairlady Nellie James said the incorporation of New Porgera Limited will be for Porgera Mine as the previous unincorporated venture running of operations and sale of gold was only privy to the individual shareholders.

Ms James said the incorporated project company structure allows for a board which is made up of directors representing the shareholders and the full board will be privy to the operation of the mine and to ensure there is proper governance and transparency of the operations.

She said actual mining operations will be undertaken by Barrick (Niugini) Ltd, as the operator of the mine and report to NPL, and shareholders await their dividend payment when profit is declared.

Other mines in PNG also have an incorporated corporate structure and that includes Ok Tedi and Lihir, and it is not a new concept.

“Given the circumstances, this arrangement is better, as all of the parties are seated around the table, rules are set out in the operatorship agreement and transparency and accountability is ensured among the parties in respect to the operations of the mine,” Ms James said.

“Also, we now see an equity structure that is a first for PNG as New Porgera has secured 15 per cent protected equity for project area landowners and the province.

They get to see their benefits from the moment the mine starts selling gold, while the State, through Kumul Mineral Holdings Limited, awaits the full repayment of the cost incurred during care and maintenance up to mine reopening.

“There are other immediate benefits of Porgera Mine reopening that will be seen by other PNG stakeholders earlier than KMHL.”

For the duration of 2023, the agriculture sector's planned operations would require a budgetary expenditure of K1 billion.

Dr. Nelson Simbiken, acting secretary for the Department of Agriculture and Livestock, stated that the government must provide between K500 million and K1 billion to the sector if K1 billion is not possible.

Nine commodity sectors, including the NAQIA, NARI, cocoa, coffee, coconut, spice, rubber, fresh produce, and oil palm industries, are included in the budget, according to him.

“In 2023, that is the budget we want and we are expecting the government to give us between K500 million and K1 billion so that we are able to support our citizens through agriculture,” he said.

According to Dr. Simbiken, the Department of Agriculture would require a total budget of K300 million to enable the department get started in the correct way by creating a new corporate or business strategy.

“We will be launching the corporate plan at the end of this month or early next month.

“We are going to restructure, reorganise and get our staff to work in the regions and in the districts getting closer to the farmers,” he said.

“We have a new corporate plan coming up and we will ensure that by 2023 we will implement the corporate plan so that we address key policy agendas for the government, that is commercialisation, downstream processing, encouraging growth in the SME sector, financial inclusion of all our citizens, going into the rural areas and engaging through agriculture business across the regions.

“We want to create the agriculture business incubation across the regions for our rural people to participate.”

Reference: Post-Courier (25 October 2022). “Agri Sector Needs K1b In 2023 Budget”.

Photo credit: United Nations

The likelihood that Papua New Guinea won't achieve its 2030 Sustainable Development Goals Agenda is increased by figures indicating a drop in world food production.

Bir Mandal, the country representative and head of the office for the Food Agriculture Organization (FAO), noted that in only two years, the number of people experiencing acute food insecurity worldwide increased from 135 million in 2019 to 193 million in 2021.

He claimed that harsher conditions are anticipated by 2022.

The Asia-Pacific Symposium for Agri-food Systems Transformation was held at the FAO Regional Office in Bangkok at the beginning of this month, and the Minister of Agriculture attended.

Our agrifood systems have structural flaws and poor levels of resilience as a result of the shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic, the food, feed, fuel, fertiliser, and financial crises, popularly known as the 5F problem, as well as climate change and conflict.

Famine and starvation, according to Mr. Mandal, are killing people and endangering children's futures, which will seriously impede efforts to meet the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals Agenda.

According to the FAO and its partners' most recent State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) Report, up to 828 million people would be chronically malnourished in 2021, which is 46 million more than in 2020 and 150 million more than in 2019, before COVID-19.

Papua New Guinea is not an exception to these 5F problems, according to Dr. Nelson Simbiken, acting secretary for agriculture and livestock.

The increase in food prices, feed costs for our livestock industry, including poultry, petrol expenses, fertiliser costs, and the opportunity costs of funding development programmes and investments may be restricted, according to Dr. Simbiken, and will have an immediate impact on PNG.

According to him, the Department of Agriculture would help the government on questions of policy and top priorities in order to protect the economy from potential threats and shocks.

“We are promoting the production of small livestock in the country like sheep and goats to be produced in the regional area or in the provinces,” Dr. Simbiken said.

“We also ensure that our meat production like village chicken and poultry is supported and at the same time we ensure that there are cassava, sago and all our traditional root crops must be grown.”

According to Dr. Simbiken, the department is coordinating with the provinces as part of the food security programme to guarantee that farmers have access to suitable seed programmes in all of the provinces and areas.

According to Mr. Mandal, FAO will keep working to increase farmers' access to early maturing, drought- and frost-tolerant seeds, which would boost output.

Qu Dongyu, director-general of the FAO, asked the government, business, academia, civil society, and all other relevant parties to collaborate and do their part in altering how food is produced, distributed, and consumed in order to empower the most vulnerable.

Reference: Wohi, Lorraine. Post-Courier (24 October 2022). “PNG At Risk Of Falling 2030 SDG Agendas”.

According to Prime Minister James Marape, commercial agriculture, fisheries, and forestry will be used to strengthen the rural economy of the nation.

Marape stated that a strong agricultural foundation was a goal of the government.

“Growing the rural economy through agriculture presents many opportunities,” he said.

“We must explore commercial agriculture, unlock land, and look to open new markets for our products.”

“The Government will maintain the commodity price support and freight subsidy programmes, both of which have had enormous impacts on the growth of the agricultural sector.

“But we must build economic infrastructure to unlock the potential of rural areas and build market systems through digital platforms so that our people can trade more seamlessly in an increasingly integrated global marketplace.”

According to Marape, the government has also created a long-term plan for the growth of fisheries.

“The plan builds regulatory resilience, but importantly also provides very clear guidance on fisheries investment, and downstream processing,” he said.

As a Government, we must participate in the market directly and encourage downstream processing of all our marine products, not just tuna.

“And in forestry, we remain committed to stopping all round log exports by 2025 as a first industry to migrate to downstream processing.”

Reference: The National (25 October 2022). “Agriculture, fisheries and forestry crucial”.

Photo: James Marape

Papua New Guinea will have the financial room it needs to support the country's growth with a K200 billion economy.

Prime Minister James Marape said that since his election as Prime Minister in 2019, he had held firm on his view that PNG had the potential to transform the nation into a K200 billion economy.

“This requires that we evolve from a mindset of dependency on Government, wantoks, and foreign aid to one of economic independence, where we harness economic opportunities available in our country and invest in growth,” he said.

“Our Government’s election victory was a vote of confidence in the direction that we have taken our nation over the course of the past three years.

“We have sought to stabilise an economy shaken by global uncertainty and to bring about the budget repair. But the fact is that more needs to be done.”

In the meanwhile, Marape said that the government had been expansionist during the previous three years by adopting budget strategies to make sure that the economy was stimulated and expanded as well as sustained in its ability to provide public services and reduce debt.

“Commenting on the 2022 Budget, the National Research Institute recognised that the massive 2022 budget will contribute to stimulating the economy via spending and the subsequent effect on increasing consumer demand, consistent with the Keynesian school of thought,” he added.

“It recognises that consumer demand is vital for businesses to perform well, and to create more income and employment in the economy.”

Reference:Kuku, Rebecca. The National (24 October 2022). “K200 billion economy possible: PM”.

Zavath Seafood Limited, a subsidiary of Zavath Holdings Limited, made history on the 13th of October as it became the first locally owned company in Papua New Guinea to export its first seafood product, crab, to the Singapore Market on 14 October.

Present to announce its operations to the media and the country at its operating office in Taurama was Mr. Alphonse Wong Parpa, the founder and managing director of Zavath Seafood Limited.

Mr. Parpa said he had the idea of selling seafood products after seeing local Papua New Guineans struggling to sell their seafood, which usually takes them a whole length of time to sell in the market. He wanted to create an avenue where all seafood products could be purchased efficiently. 

"I want to sell premium quality seafood for the world, and it will be starting with crabs for now."

He further explained that the name Zavath was derived from the Hebrew word meaning "the promised land" and that Papua New Guinea “has a lot to offer.”

The company has established a modern state-of-the-art seafood facility at Taurama Valley, Port Moresby, and is recognized by the national government as a model for setting "One Stop Shop for Seafood Trading Centre" in Papua New Guinea to supply the world with premium seafood products.

In March, the National Fisheries Authority signed a Memorandum of Agreement with Zavath Seafoods Limited to distribute seafood in Singapore alongside its Singapore company One Solomon Pte. Ltd., which will store, repackage, and sell the Seafood to the Asian markets once they arrive from the Taurama Seafood facility in Port Moresby. 

In September during Independence Eve, Zavath Seafoods Limited was able to secure an order of over 500 kg of mud crab on the first seafood show in Singapore. 

The company now will have a first test trial of the market, and later will be able to involve local Papua and Guineans in the sale of crab per kilo once the price has been determined. 

So far the company has been harvesting crabs at their local farm in Gavuone in the Central Province and has plans to include other maritime provinces once the company expands.

An official date is yet to be set for the opening of the facility, which the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea has been formally invited to launch it.

(Left to right) Head of Agriculture Department Prof Mcquine Maino, Unitech’s Vice Chancellor Dr Ora Renagi, Trukai’s Chief Executive Officer Alan Preston, and Rice Development Manager Aina Davis during the signing of the MOA between Trukai Industries Ltd and Unitech.

Trukai Industries Limited has ventured into a partnership with the University of Technology to train local farmers under its Smart Farmer Program at the University of Technology Taraka campus in Lae on Wednesday 12th October.

The partnership was formally announced with the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding.

This five-year agreement is a private-public partnership for the promotion of academic and professional collaboration of rice research and training through the advancement of science and Technology at the university.

Trukai Industries Chief Executive Officer Alan Preston said this partnership demonstrates the company’s support for local rice farmers through Trukai’s Smart Farmer Program and is its contribution towards rice development in PNG.

Trukai Industries Rice Development Manager Aina Davis said this training will be more practical-based and will be for a period of two weeks.

Through this program, the company aims to enable local rice farmers to become smallholder farmers and then transition into semi-commercial and commercial farmers.

Registration will open for the Certificate in Irrigation Rice Farming later this year. The Trukai Smart Farmer program will see 300 farmers certified in its pilot training in 2023.

Davis said the Trukai Smart Farmer Program will touch on the basics of irrigation rice farming and will be for farmers of all levels, from elementary to commercial-based farmers.

The collaboration with the University’s Agriculture Department will enable farmers to share and access classrooms, research laboratories, and farm or field facilities for farmer training, as well as undergraduate and postgraduate student training, research and development, and extension activities.

Professor Macquin Maino, Head of the Agriculture Department, stated that the department and university are pleased to collaborate with Trukai in this five-year agreement.

He said this MOA is beneficial for students from the department as well, as part of the agreement will have students engage in work-integrated learning experiences with Trukai and learn hands-on skills from professionals in the field.

Prof. Maino added that as part of the agreement, the University will provide eight hectares of land at the University Farm for the purpose of rice development projects and training on rice farming systems.

Vice Chancellor and Associate Professor Dr. Ora Renagi said Trukai Industries is a long-time partner and supporter of the University and the Agriculture department for over 20 years. This partnership further strengthens the professional relationship between the two organizations, she added.

Blue Water Shipping is proud to announce the Kumul Service - a new regular liner service between North Asia and Papua New Guinea (PNG). The service will be an extension to the current Blue Water Shipping liner service through to Lihir, PNG, and will now offer customers a further solution into Lae.

Steven Lofaro, Regional Director, Energy, Ports and Projects Oceania, sees a growing demand for cargo capacity, particularly for Breakbulk cargoes, in and out of Papua New Guinea. The Kumul service, operating with the MV Gala - a multipurpose vessel with a single lift capacity of 150 mt . enables Blue Water Shipping to provide a regular and efficient solution that can benefit a wide range of industries due to the ability to receive containerised, break-bulk, project and out-of-gauge cargo.

“It is exciting to offer our industry a regular and reliable service. The solution will help strengthen the supply chain for organisations based in PNG, focusing on optimisation through both the importing and exporting of equipment in and out of PNG”.

The maiden voyage will depart from Asia early-December. Moving forward, the service will offer regular sailings from China, Korea, and Japan into PNG every 30 days.

For Steven Lofaro, the service complements the Blue Water Shipping capabilities within Projects Logistics to ensure efficient cargo flows for our customers.

As a full end-to-end provider, we offer additional services, including landside freight, consolidation, piece checking, warehousing, cargo handling, and customs clearance. Globally, Blue Water has more than 70 offices worldwide, and the company provides all logistics services in modern supply chain management.

Photo: US Congressman of Hawaii, Ed Case

The American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) Coral Sea hosted a roundtable discussion with US Congressman Ed Case of Hawaii on Wednesday 19th of October 2022 at its Port Moresby based Office. The AmCham was launched earlier this year to promote sustainable economic growth, foreign investment and greater opportunities for US and the Pacific companies including the Coral Sea region that is PNG,  Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. 

The discussion comes after a meeting with the Biden Administration last month ago At the US- Pacific Island country summit in ways to enhance Partnership and trade.

Key issues highlighted were how to work in collaboration with AmCham Coral Sea Countries and the US especially Hawaii, providing ways to enhance business growth and explore congress role in enhancing AmCham's efforts. 

In his welcoming remarks,  AmCham Coral Sea Vice President Peter Burnie (PWC Papua New Guinea) shared AmCham's partnership has having multiple facets that provide innovation, diversity, trust and integrity with Commercial relationship as its centre.

"We recognize the incredible importance of the US government's involvement in the region and our connection is the differentiator in other business organizations and is our key to success".

"I deeply appreciated the discussion with AmCham Coral Sea, how we can all seize the moment following Biden's and congress landmark meeting with the Pacific Island Leaders in Washington DC last month said US Congressman Ed Case (Hawaii). Our Joint Declaration on US Pacific Partnership and our whole range of related initiatives throughout our Pacific demonstration our commitment for working with our partners to increase economic potential and opportunities all towards mutual strengthening of our countries and it's share values .I am really excited at the enhanced role my Hawaii can and wants to play in facilitating this next chapter in the Pacific Century. 

One hundred percent locally owned Sky Health and Medical Service (SHMS) Clinic is expanding its services to international standards.

It is working with Papua New Guineans business houses and the government health sector to deliver maximum services as it will officially open its 8Mile headquarter Clinic in a few weeks in Port Moresby.

An official tour of the headquarters facility was given by the Acting General Manager of Sky Medical Clinic Doctor Wilson Pakalu with its state-of-the-art equipment and office.

The Thermo Fisher 7500 series high-end PCR machine

The Thermo Fisher 7500 series high-end PCR machine, Automatic Extraction Workstation, and Quigen Automatic Liquid Handling System are all installed and operational for SHMS.

Sky Health is the only private lab operating such sophisticated systems, which has increased its testing capacity to 5,000 samples per day, and fully automated systems greatly reduce any human error in the process.

This now elevated the SHMS-operated PNGML as the most sophisticated high-end molecular lab in PNG testing COVID-19 for now, and Pakalu said it will go into HPV screening and other molecular diagnostics as well.

Ambulance Services

SHMS has 3 ambulances to boost its Emergency Response Services -- one sent to Lae, while the other one will join Sky Health’s other fleet for POM operations. They are now being sent for full kitting and branding.

Digital X-Ray Machines

Testing and installation of its Siemens digital X-ray including leading completed to meet NDoH standards. Supply and installation are done by Meddent at the 8 Mile Medical Clinic

Conference Room

SHMS also has an extensive management and staff meeting room.

Sky Health’s other branch in Port Moresby is located at Konedobu, which mainly specializes in Occupational Health and Safety Check-ups and Pre-Employment Medical Reports for companies.

"An advantage that we have is we as Papua New Guinean clinicians understand better the disease patterns here in Papua New Guinea, and we try our best to provide affordable, reliable, and efficient medical services to our people,” Dr. Pakalu said.

He explained that they are looking to work under a public-private partnership for effectively service delivery in the health sector.

Early this year, SHMS assisted the Port Moresby General Hospital laboratory services by processing all their blood tests when their lab machines were down.

“We are trying to do the same thing with NCD PHA,” Pakalu said.

Sky Health Medical Services Ltd has over 42 hard-working staff including 4 doctors. It has a centre in Lae operating as well (see picture 12).

SHMS provides support to the Mining and Petroleum Industry, Primary Health Services through a network of clinics across the country, Emergency Medical Services, Domestic and Trans-Boarder Medical Evacuation Services, Search & Rescue, Tactical Medical Services;

Occupational Health Services including Pre-Employment and Annual Medical Checks, Laboratory Services including COVID-19 RT-PCR testing., Dental Services, Radiological Services, and Medical Staffing Support Mining and Petroleum Industry, Primary Health Services through a network of clinics across the country;

Emergency Medical Services, Domestic and Trans-Boarder Medical Evacuation Services, Search & Rescue, Tactical Medical Services, Occupational Health Services including Pre-Employment and Annual Medical Checks, Laboratory Services including COVID-19 RT-PCR testing, Dental Services, Radiological Services, and Medical Staffing Support.

Photo: (From left) Dawn Robinson, Project Wok Coordinator of Project Yumi Inc.; Project Yumi PNG Regional Coordinator Jessica Bablis; and General Manager of FX Business Centre Jeremy Nicdao presenting the Cheque

FX Business Centre is assisting in the setup of the Pari Early Childhood Centre in the Central Province by donating K5,500 to Project Yumi Inc. to sponsor a classroom setup there.

Mr. Jeremy Nicdao, FX Business General Manager, presented the cheque for the donation to the Project Yumi Team on 25 October at the FX Business Centre Office.

He said that as an important member of the Remington Group of Companies, FX Business Centre PNG and Fujifilm Australia “is proud to join with Project Yumi to deliver on the Group’s vision of developing our people, this time providing much-needed school equipment for our PNG leaders for tomorrow.”

“After decades of operations in Papua New Guinea, it is wonderful for FX Business Centre PNG to engage with our local communities through important educational and social projects," Nicdao said.

Through its Project Skul Sponsorship Program, Project Yumi has supported over 60 schools since commencing the project. Seven schools have been supported in this way since the inception of the corporate Sponsorship Program mid-2022.

Dawn Robinson, Project Yumi Wok Coordinator, said the group, through Project Skul, is grateful for the support provided by FX Business Centre.

"It is wonderful to see a business committed to assisting local communities and even more so when it is focused on improving the education of the young children," she said.

The Pari Early Childhood Centre project, managed by Project Yumi through its Project Skul Sponsorship Program, will see 143 young students and their teachers better equipped with desks, chairs, reading books, and stationery.

Photo: Alan Preston - Trukai Industries Limited CEO

Trukai Industries Limited has recently been recertified for meeting a global standard for Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems under the ISO 54001:2018 standard.

Trukai Industries CEO Alan Preston says Trukai is committed to maintaining the highest safety standards with an aim of achieving zero harm in its everyday operations.

"At Trukai we pride ourselves in ensuring safety as our number one priority every day for the employees, contractors, and stakeholders to do their job on the Trukai site safely and go home to their families at the end of the day," he said.

Mr. Preston added that achieving the highest safety standards also provides the highest standard of products for the people of Papua New Guinea.

This year, Trukai Industries was due for recertification after being certified in 2019 and was audited in August this year. The rice company had once again met international safety standards and received approval for the updated safety standards under ISO 54001:2018.

The purpose of the audit was to determine the safety management system the capability and effectiveness of the management system and meet the set criteria of these standards. The audit was also set so that there was continued compliance with its customers’ statutory and regulatory requirements.

The audit is conducted annually to ensure continual compliance and adherence to the set criteria of ISO 54001: 2018 and to prepare for the recertification audit, which is conducted every three years. 

Photo credit: Department of Prime Minister & National Executive Council

Prime Minister Hon. James Marape has given the green lights to Japanese think tank Japan Development Institute (JDI) to start work on developing a new Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Master Plan for Papua New Guinea.

He gave the blessing following a meeting with JDI CEO and Chairman, Dr. Shoichi Kobayashi, in Port Moresby recently (October 27, 2022).

PM Marape said the establishment of SEZs would be factored into the 2023 Budget to get the ball rolling.

The meeting was also attended by International Trade and Investment Minister Hon. Richard Maru, PNG Ambassador to Japan H.E. Sam Abal and SEZ Authority Chairman Varigini Badira.

Dr Kobayashi’s visit follows an invitation by PM Marape during a meeting with him in Tokyo last month.

Dr Kobayashi and Ambassador Abal are in PNG this week to further discussions with the Government on progressing the SEZ concept.

They met with the SEZ Authority and Minister Maru on Tuesday (October 25) and visited the Rigo Rice Project in Central.

On Wednesday (October 26), they travelled to Madang to visit the PMIZ and overnighted there.

Today, the team met with PM Marape in Port Moresby, and will return to Japan at the weekend.

PM Marape told Dr Kobayashi to work closely with Minister Maru on progressing the SEZ concept in PNG.

“I want to thank you on behalf of the country,” he told Dr Kobayashi.

“It is in our interest to progress the SEZ concept.”

The JDI is an independent think tank/consulting firm, specialised in international development. It was first established in 1982 as the World Consultant Service (WCS) and later changed its name as JDI after merging with the think tank of the Institution of Engineering Consulting Firms Association, Japan (ECFA) in 1997. With its distinguished experts from numerous disciplines and the network with its associate institutions and experts in the world, JDI provides a broad range of consulting services in the field of development, carries out practical studies, and proposes concrete projects and strategies.

Starting with industrial development in southern Thailand in 1978, JDI has dealt with 40 SEZ projects in 20 countries, to date.

Photo credit: State Enterprises Minister William Duma (Centre in white pants) and his delegation pose for a photo with members of the OTML senior management team at the Ok Tedi mine.

Ok Tedi Mining Limited (OTML) recently hosted the Minister for State Enterprises Honourable William Duma during a site visit to the mine on October 20.

Minister Duma was accompanied by Kumul Minerals Holdings Ltd Acting Managing Director Hengene Ivan, Kumul Consolidated Holdings Ltd Managing Director Prof. David Kavanamur, State Enterprises Ministry First Secretary Junior Koipi and Second Secretary, Kennedy Poiya.

Mr Duma was taken on a tour of the mine and the processing facilities and met with the senior management team who presented the company’s Three-year Plan and the year-to-date performance and outlook for this year.

In welcoming the Minister, the OTML Managing Director and CEO, Mr Musje Werror said that Ok Tedi appreciated the Minister taking time off his busy schedule to visit the operations and be informed of the challenges the company was facing post Covid. He added that the Minister last visited the operations in 2004 when he was Minister for Environment and is familiar with Ok Tedi.

Minister Duma said Ok Tedi is an important project for the country and that the Government will continue to support it to deliver maximum returns for its PNG shareholders.

“The Government recognises the importance of Ok Tedi as a State asset, and as a major contributor to our country’s economy and will continue to support the Company to continue operating for as long as possible with the requisite social and environmental license,” he said.

Before departing Tabubil he stated that he had enjoyed his brief visit to the site and was impressed with the cleanliness of the Tabubil township and encouraged management to keep up the good work.

OTML is 100 percent PNG owned, with Kumul Minerals Ok Tedi Limited holding 67% of OTML’s shares on behalf of the State and the three entities representing the people of the Western Province collectively holding the remaining 33%.

These three entities are Mineral Resources Ok Tedi No.2 Ltd, and Mineral Resources CMCA Limited both owning 12 per cent of OTML, and Mineral Resources Star Mountains Ltd holding the remaining 9 percent.