Economy & Investment

The exodus of expats from Papua New Guinea due to COVID-19 has had a dramatic effect on the country’s real estate sector. Robert Upe reports.

The Governor of Bank of Papua New Guinea has forecast a recovery for the country’s economy of 2.5 per cent after the sharp contraction of 2020. But he says the national budget and PNG’s foreign exchange reserves will remain under pressure.

Now is the time to focus on restarting foreign investment in Papua New Guinea, says Clarence Hoot, Managing Director of the country’s Investment Promotion Authority. He tells Business Advantage PNG the IPA’s priorities for the year ahead, which include getting new foreign investment laws through Parliament.

The most important economic issue facing Papua New Guinea is job generation, according to Douveri Henao, Executive Director Business Council of PNG, and Paul Barker, Executive Director of the Institute of National Affairs.

Papua New Guinea has been dealing with a ’triple crisis’, according to Ilyas Sarsenov, Country Economist for the World Bank in PNG. Speaking at a Business Advantage PNG online briefing, he said that the economy has fallen well below previous growth forecasts.

Reports that a Chinese company has put forward a multibillion dollar plan to develop several areas in Western Province have highlighted the lack of investment in one of Papua New Guinea’s most neglected provinces.

The Investment Promotion Authority has released data on foreign investment trends in 2020 that show the sector of most interest was agriculture. Despite the impact of COVID-19 there was significant investor interest.

The Bank of Papua New Guinea has released its Quarterly Economic Bulletin for the March and June 2020 Quarters. It shows that the economy and government finances came under great pressure because of the COVID-19 lockdowns, but that the impact was uneven.

Kina Bank’s Chief Executive and Managing Director Greg Pawson is expecting to start the SME Capital Fund this year, which will offer PNG businesses a new way of raising money. He tells Business Advantage PNG it should help business expand.

COVID-19, Porgera and politics may have monopolised the attention of the media, but 2020 brought many other challenges, unexpected changes and triumphs for business. Here’s how Business Advantage PNG reported on this extraordinary year.