Satellite-enabled phone and data services have often been considered a technology of last resort, due to relatively high costs and quality constraints. However, Dutch company O3b is pioneering the next generation of cheaper, more reliable satellite communications in Papua New Guinea and the Pacific—good news for a region where getting connected can be a major challenge.
Papua New Guinea has the perfect climate for solar, and is the key to achieving an ambitious government plan to bring electricity to the 70 per cent of Papua New Guineans who currently don’t have access by 2030, according to Rick Hooper, Chief Executive Officer of Sydney-based solar company, Barefoot Power.
Major road works in Papua New Guinea are now outsourced to the private sector, under a design-and-build model. The result, says the Secretary of the Works Department David Wereh, is improved performance.
Maersk Line has appointed Anthony Randell as its new Country Manager for Australia and Papua New Guinea. He spoke to Business Advantage PNG about the next phase of the shipping giant’s involvement in PNG.
A decision on who will build a second K300 million berth at the Port of Lae is expected by the end of 2015 and construction due to commence in 2016, according to PNG Ports’ Chief Executive Officer, Stanley Alphonse. A new industrial park and an international operator for the port is also on the cards.
The CEO of Telikom PNG predicts all Papua New Guinea will be able to connect to the Internet within two years. In a wide-ranging review of PNG’s telecommunications industry, Michael Donnelly canvasses lower prices, new investment, takeovers and the impact of competition policy.
After two years of research and hearings, the PNG Tax Review Committee is due to present its final report to Government next month. PricewaterhouseCoopers PNG’s Jason Ellis looks at the tax reform measures it is likely to recommend.
Australia’s Woodside Petroleum has launched an A$11.65 billion (K22.83 billion) offer for one of Papua New Guinea’s largest companies, Oil Search Ltd. It’s the latest in series of moves that has seen several PNG gas-related assets change hands in the past year.
Gas projects in Papua New Guinea are extremely viable, despite the downturn in oil and gas prices, the Managing Director of Oil Search, Peter Botten, has told the 2015 PNG Advantage Investment Summit in Brisbane.
The Papua New Guinea government will cut K1.6 billion in expenditure from its 2015 Budget, and may seek further cuts of K1 billion, according to Treasury Secretary, Dairi Vele.