Latest news

Bougainville Copper Ltd says Panguna mine could be operational by 2025-26, Foreign exchange injection this week, and Tolukuma gold mine may restart by year’s end. Your weekly digest of the latest business news. 

A prestigious new Papua New Guinea travel publication aimed at boosting the country’s tourism sector has been announced by Business Advantage International, publisher of Air Niugini’s Paradise magazine.

The copper price has increased by about a quarter in 2017, although it is still below its 2013 highs. Stephen Howes, Director of the Development Policy Centre at ANU tells Business Advantage PNG that the  boost in the copper price is important for Papua New Guinea, in particular, Ok Tedi.

PNG Government-owned company Kumul Petroleum Holdings has sold its 10 per cent stake in Oil Search, with KPH Managing Director Wapu Sonk reportedly saying it lost A$322 million (K812 m) on the sale. However, stockmarket analyst David Lennox says overall the country has benefited from the process.

Oil prices are likely to remain volatile and LNG prices may head lower due to complex shifts in supply and demand. Other commodities seem more likely to be on an upwards trend, but the picture is patchy.

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.

Tourism brings in only US$105 million in the first half of 2017, Lae businesses downturn about 30 per cent, says business leader, and SP Hunters win. Your weekly digest of the latest business news.

As demand for electric cars gather pace, Papua New Guinea’s Ramu mine is perfectly placed to be a big provider of the nickel and cobalt, both essential ingredients for these hi-tech batteries. Craig Lennon, Managing Director of Highlands Pacific told the Business Advantage Papua New Guinea Investment Conference in Sydney that both commodities are hot.

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