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For the first time since Fiji’s 2006 coup, the annual Australia-Fiji Business Forum was held in Australia earlier this week.

The Lae Chamber of Commerce (LCCI) says the Rudd–O’Neill asylum seeker deal ‘will be positive for business’, according to chamber president, Alan McLay.

More than 70 business delegates representing 53 Papua New Guinea companies from various industries are participating in a trade show in the Solomon Islands this week.

The international energy services company, Wood Group PSN, has won a contract with Esso Highlands to provide construction and maintenance to services to the Hides gas plant in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands and the new PNG LNG plant near Port Moresby.

The ratings agency Moody’s has cut Newcrest Mining Ltd’s credit rating, declaring its outlook as negative, after the gold miner announced a AUD$6 billion (K12.6 billion) in asset writedowns in June.

Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister Peter O’Neill is adamant that businesses on Manus Island ‘will directly benefit’ from the asylum-seeker deal signed last week by himself and Australian counterpart Kevin Rudd. But some business leaders are sceptical.

Oil Search has reported that while it has discovered only ‘modest’ quantities of natural gas during a new exploration campaign in the Gulf of Papua, it will continue drilling in the area.

Harmony Gold has become the latest gold miner to write-down its Papua New Guinea assets, as a sharp drops in bullion prices force mining companies globally to reassess the profitability of their mines.

The Cairns Chamber of Commerce has opened a branch office in Papua New Guinea’s capital city, Port Moresby.

The luxury cruise line Carnival Australia has signed a three-year deal with AusAID to boost local business tourism opportunities in Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu.