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The Pacific’s tourist sector has been resilient to the falling Australia and New Zealand dollars, according to the July ANZ Bank Pacific Monthly update.

Australia will send up to 50 police officers to Papua New Guinea by the end of the year to help tackle the country’s growing law and order problem. The deal is one of a series of agreements arising from the 21-hour visit to Papua New Guinea this week by Australia’s Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, to meet his PNG counterpart, Peter O’Neill.

Closer economic engagement with Far North Queensland, law and order, and health will be on the agenda when Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd visits Papua New Guinea today. Rudd will be the second Australian Prime Minister to visit PNG in the past two months, following former PM Julia Gillard’s visit in May.

Construction of a new private wharf and boat ramp in Port Moresby will be completed by the end of the year, according to Karthik Pajjala, General Manager of Avenell Engineering Systems Ltd, the builders of the wharf.

Bougainville leaders are considering lifting the moratorium on mineral exploration which has been in place since the 1970s, in case the Panguna gold and copper mine does not re-open.

Papua New Guinea citizens can now apply for visas to visit Australia online, part of a slow but steady improvement in immigration procedures between the two countries.

Air Niugini’s inaugural flight to Denpasar, Bali, is scheduled for 5 August 2013, as the airline seeks to extend its reach into the region.

The Institute of National Affairs’ (INA) five-yearly survey of businesses in Papua New Guinea shows that once again law and order stands out as the private sector’s top concern, closely followed by corruption.

Construction of the long-awaited Lae-Nadzab Road upgrade to a four-lane highway begins this month, after Prime Minister Peter O’Neill launched the project last week.

The work to create an Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) for Papua New Guinea’s moves into the public arena this month.