Fintech company NiuPay is making headlines with its e-government solutions and a recent partnership with Kina Bank. Business Advantage PNG meets its Director, James Inglis, to learn more about the business.
Banking & Finance
Foreign direct investment into Papua New Guinea dropped in the first quarter of 2020, according to Investment Promotion Authority figures. Meanwhile, business expresses concern over proposed changes to PNG’s investment laws.
Papua New Guinea signed up to China’s Belt and Road initiative in 2018 but this is unlikely to result in significant investment, according to Dinny McMahon, author of China’s Great Wall of Debt.
The Coral Sea Cable has landed and the pandemic has forced more businesses to go online, so has ecommerce’s time finally come in PNG? Business Advantage PNG’s latest business briefing asks some of the experts.
Papua New Guinea’s trade is likely to be sharply affected by the COVID-19 crisis and the closure of international borders, according to a report by the National Research Institute. It makes suggestions about how PNG’s traded sector can be supported.
Tapioca Delight is spearheading change in Papua New Guinea, by becoming the first SME to start accepting online credit and debit card payments via Bank South Pacific’s internet payment gateway. Gabriella Munoz speaks with owner Ginia Sialis to find out more.
Economists are forecasting a recession in PNG in 2020 as the country struggles to deal with the global crisis caused by the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus. The ratings agency Standard & Poor’s has also downgraded the country’s debt.
The impact of the COVID-19 crisis on Papua New Guinea’s financial markets has been muted so far. However, the crisis provides an opportunity to create new investment opportunities so that local entrepreneurs can raise capital more easily.
Papua New Guinea’s government has announced its Budget deficit will balloon to more than K6 billion, the biggest in the nation’s history. Treasurer Ian Ling-Stuckey has announced a well-targeted stimulus, but the International Monetary Fund needs to come to the party.
In an emergency session of parliament last week, Prime Minister James Marape extended Papua New Guinea’s state of emergency, and the ramifications will be significant.