Cabinet considers a plan to turn the lush Ramu Valley into a Special Economic Zone, People’s Microbank aims at 50,000 customers and Nambawan Super’s overseas investments down 20 per cent. Your weekly digest of the latest business news.

Ramu Valley in Madang Province has been identified as a potential Special Economic Zone. Trade Minister Richard Maru says Cabinet is considering a proposal for a feasibility study to turn 100,000 hectares of prime agriculture land into a major fruit and agriculture venture.

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 National Development Bank subsidiary People’s Microbank now has 30,000 customers and expects to have 50,000 by the end of the year, according to Trade Minister Richard Maru. Its loan book is worth K10 million and the government is giving it another K15 million to open up five new branches.

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The CEO of  Nambawan Super Ltd Garry Tunstall says the Bank of Papua New Guinea’s introduction of the exchange rate trading band in foreign exchange has seen offshore investments depreciate by 20 percent.

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Dame Meg Taylor

Papua New Guinean, Dame Meg Taylor, will head her first Pacific Island Forum meeting when PNG hosts the 46th PIF meeting in July next year.  She is the first Papua New Guinean to be appointed as Secretary-General.

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Indigenous landowners of the Nadzab Airport area near Lae have sold 1000 hectares of their land to the Morobe Provincial Government for K13.58 million. Meanwhile, the K800 million Lae Port project is now 96 percent complete and is ahead of schedule, according to executives of contractor, China Harbour Engineering Company.

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Gas deal signed. Chairman Rex Aipe, Iman Papa, John Imaka and Tony Carmichael. Credit: Post-Courier

Landowners of the Stanley Gas project in Western Province have signed a deal with Pacific Air Limited and Carmichael Builders which could be a benchmark in terms of landowner participation in future projects. The deal will give landowners the capacity to participate in level two and three contracts in the proposed project.

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The Constitutional Law Reform Commission is recommending a total ban on dumping tailings in the sea and rivers, according to Secretary, Eric Kwa.

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The secretary of the Madang Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Richard Jones, says there’s general acceptance in private sector of the minimum wages determination. He says many members are already paying above the set amount and for relatively unskilled workers.

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The Papua New Guinea Tax Review Committee has released its second Issues Paper, which deals with considerations for change to the corporate and international tax regimes. A deadline for submissions on the paper is 29 August 2014. Click here to read the paper (PDF, 1 MB file size).

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The Department of Transport says the 12-month moratorium on used car imports will remain until the establishment of the National Traffic Authority.

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Horizon Oil has conceded its proposed merger with Roc will not go ahead, after a A$474 million cash takeover offer for Roc from private Chinese conglomerate Fosun Group.

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The PNG Institute of Directors has recognised two women for upholding and demonstrating principles of good governance as directors in their respective businesses. Mary Johns has won the Director of the Year Award and Sylvia Pascoe has won the Young Director of the Year Award. Jerry Wemin took out the male director of the year award.

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Eroni Kumana. Credit: Rellysdom Aaron Malakana

The second of the two Solomon Islanders who helped save US President John Kennedy (then a lieutenant) during World War Two has died. Eroni Kumana, 93, died at his home in Western Province.

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A new aircraft gifted to Tonga by China spent the weekend stranded in Papua New Guinea, after a local customs official, a Seventh Day Adventist, refused to process its arrival on Saturday.