The Prime Minister of Australia, Malcolm Turnbull and the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, Peter O’Neill have announced they will be working together to lay a new undersea high speed telecommunications cable from Australia to Port Moresby. The move is expected to contribute to closer economic integration between the two neighbouring countries.
Looking to invest successfully in the Pacific? There’s no substitute for understanding your market and its people, and for being on the ground. Three successful regional investors also outlined to the Business Investment PNG Conference which sectors have the most potential.
The Asian Development Bank has begun its decade-long US$1 billion investment in the Highlands Highway, according to David Hill, the bank’s Country Director for PNG. He says the ADB is also planning significant investment in the health and civil aviation sectors.
The Papua New Guinea economy is unlikely to rebound strongly before 2020, according to a report by the World Bank. It forecasts steady, but unspectacular, growth.
National airline Air Niugini is helping establish Jacksons International Airport as a regional hub, according to the company’s Chairman, Sir Frederick Reiher. He told the Business Advantage Papua New Guinea Investment Conference that the choice of new routes to China were made with that strategy in mind.
With its longstanding dispute with Australia over the Timor Sea resolved, neighbouring Timor-Leste looks set to expand its petroleum and mineral industries. Meanwhile, its government is actively seeking investors in agriculture and fisheries, tourism and services, according to Abel Guterres, Timor-Leste Ambassador to Australia.
To deal effectively with China it is best to target second tier cities, David Thomas, Chief Executive of Think Global Consulting, told the Business Advantage Papua New Guinea Investment Conference in Sydney. He said the country’s GDP and middle class will double in the next decade, profoundly altering the world economy.
Papua New Guinea businesses should expect income streams from October, 2017, as momentum builds towards the APEC summit in November, next year. The Director-General of the PNG APEC Authority, Sir Charles Lepani, told the Business Advantage Investment Summit in Sydney, towns outside Port Moresby will also benefit.
Mahesh Patel, the chairman of Kumul Telikom, told the Business Advantage Papua New Guinea Investment Conference that the newly formed entity is urgently looking to build an undersea cable to Sydney. He said the aim is to reduce wholesale price by two-thirds
The Business Advantage Papua New Guinea Investment Conference was held last week in Sydney, successfully showcasing the nation’s potential as an investment destination and canvassing different views from the business community about the opportunities and challenges. A clear picture of the country’s—and the Pacific region’s—great untapped potential emerged.