In a move that slowly opens the economy and boosts the tourism industry, Papua New Guinea has opened its borders for four more countries - Singapore, Hong Kong, Solomon Islands, and Japan. This comes after PNG has already opened its doors to Australia.According to pandemic response controller David Manning, passengers are still required to obtain approval...

Because of the economic downturn brought about by the global health crisis, the Bank of Papua New Guinea has revised its outlook on the gross domestic product (GDP) to decline by 4%, a downward spiral from its original projection last March 2020 of 0.3 per cent. This decline is also brought about by the imposing of State Emergency, lockdown and various po...

To grow its economy, the new Autonomous Bougainville Government has looked at the Panguna mine as a key target. According to Bougainville President Ishmael Toroama, aside from Panguna, the government is also looking at other factors such as projects in agriculture, mining, fisheries, and tourism - that generates revenues and increases employment in Bougai...

To expand the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and fund additional strategic projects that enhance digital leadership in the country, Kina Bank is planning to raise around A$91 million (K224mil). According to Kina Bank chief executive officer Greg Pawson, they want to be more competitive in lending particularly for large SMEs, commercial and corporate ...

Because of the pressing issues surrounding four mines in the country - Ramu Nico mine in Madang, Ok Tedi in Western, Porgera in Enga and Sinivit in East New Britain - Environment and Conservation Minister Wera Mori said an assessment will be done to determine their environmental and socio-economic impacts. Mori said that officials from the Conservation an...

Tufi will soon undergo some changes following the inaugural Link PNG flight to Tufi. According to Transport and Infrastructure Minister William Samb, Tufi is soon to be made into Northern’s second airport. He said that Tufi will be part of the civil aviation development programme phase two (Cadip 2). He added that the government had an overall Connect PNG...

Production sharing contracts have always been specific to oil and gas and therefore never works in the mining sector. This, according to the CEO of Global Miner, Barrick Gold, who added that the highest risk in gas and oil is exploration and once you put it in infrastructure, you just pump forever.“This is where production sharing is a classic example, wh...

Better roads along Highland Highways means more economic potential. This, according to Papua New Guinea Puma Energy Country Manager Hulala Tokome, who said in a statement that he is already seeing businesses growing as the areas open up to more opportunities.“We have experienced a strong entrepreneurial mindset from SMEs there along the road who are keen ...

To ensure the stability of his coalition, Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape has reshuffled his cabinet.His line up includes Sam Basil, the leader of the United Labour Party and MP, who is now the new deputy prime minister and Minister for Planning and Implementation and Walter Schnaubelt who replaces Emil Tamur as Minister for Tourism, Arts and...

The Head of Papua New Guinea Extractive Industries Transparency (PNGEITI), Mr. Lucas Alkan announced today that the country will be validated for the second time since PNG signed up to implement the EITI global best practice Standard in 2013.The validation exercise is set to commence on the 30th of October 2020. Mr. Alkan stated that the validation is an ...

Pacific Towing (PacTow) has nearly 40 years’ salvage experience in not only its home country of Papua New Guinea but in the waterways of many countries in Oceania and South East Asia. Whether working in partnership with international operators, or individually, PacTow has considerable open ocean, coastal and also river and estuary salvage expertise and ca...

VIRTUAL ENGAGEMENT: The Chamber Webinar set up in Port Moresby at the Hilton HotelThe Papua New Guinea Chamber of Mines and Petroleum held its first ever virtual seminar last Thursday 13 August to give an update on the resources sector, and its plans moving into the new normal.With recent amendments having been made to both the Mining and Oil and Gas Acts...

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Don Kyatt Spare Parts, Terrain Tamer have officially opened their new warehouse in Lae.The warehouse is the second Papua New Guinea branch for the Australian 4wd Parts company, and their 15th internationally, including locations across Australia, Europe, New Zealand and Fiji.After the success of their Port Moresby branch, which opened in early 2018, Terra...

Transparency mechanisms must be considered and built into project agreements and memorandum of agreement reviews.Head of the PNG Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (PNGEITI) National Secretariat, Lucas Alkan, said it would be interesting to see how negotiations take place as the government proceeds with preparation for negotiating the Wafi Golp...

Committed to ensuring women do not lose employment as a result of FSV, BSP’s Head of Support Services, Alicia Sahib (Far Left) engaged the BCFW to review BSP’s workplace policy, ensuring it was in accord with best practice.Did you know that Papua New Guinea’s private sector has a suite of best practice and culturally appropriate resources to help it comba...