Australian telecommunications giant Telstra has been in negotiations to buy Digicel, Papua New Guinea’s largest telco. Meanwhile, gas company Santos has been pursuing PNG’s largest company, Oil Search. Why is PNG seeing such mergers and acquisitions activity, and are more likely?
For the time being, PNG’s economy appears to be managing its way through the COVID-19 crisis. According the Treasurer Ian Ling-Stuckey in the Final Budget Outcome for 2020, released in the past week, the ‘economic impact of the health crisis remained within our initial estimates.’
A couple of weeks ago, Business Advantage International hosted a small, high-level gathering of PNG-focused business leaders in Sydney, Australia.
The Australia–Papua New Guinea Business Council is holding its 36th business forum and trade expo this week in Brisbane. Business Advantage PNG reports from the event, which is both a physical and online event this year.
2021 promises to be a year like no other in Papua New Guinea, as business leaders look beyond the COVID-19 crisis to an economy preparing for a major transition. They share their expectations with Andrew Wilkins.
The positive news that the Marape government and Barrick Gold have reach a ‘binding framework agreement’ for the reopening of the Porgera gold mine is being welcomed with relief by almost all concerned.
Given the delicate state of Papua New Guinea’s economy, as indicated by recent World Bank and Asian Development Bank forecasts, the news last month that the final legislative hurdle for the Papua LNG project had been delivered is welcome.
What do Virgin Australia, Westpac, Norton Rose Fulbright and Horizon Oil have in common? As you may have noted, they are all companies that have effectively signalled a scaling back of, or end to, their PNG presence in the past year.
Just when you thought 2020 couldn’t surprise us any more, Papua New Guinea’s politicians delivered a November parliamentary session to remember.
Last week, I sat down with the heads of three of Papua New Guinea’s leading companies – Kina Bank, Steamships Trading Company and Paradise Foods – to discuss leadership during COVID-19, among other topics.