Even if the PNG Government puts up its share of the funds for the Solwara I, as Nautilus Minerals’ CEO expects, it will be at least two to three years before the company can begin its deep sea mining operation in the Bismarck Sea.
Industry sectors
Corporate and residential telecommunications prices in Papua New Guinea should fall over the next year as infrastructure improves, according to senior representatives of PNG’s two leading telecommunciations companies, Telikom and Digicel.
Nautilus Minerals says it will go ahead with its high grade copper-gold exploration project in the Bismark Sea, after an international arbitrator compelled the PNG government to abide by a joint venture agreement.
Tourism operators have welcomed the government’s plan to develop Kokopo and Rabaul in East New Britain province as the country’s tourism hub. But they warn poor infrastructure and the country’s bad image overseas could prevent PNG reaping the benefits of ‘huge’ tourism potential.
Papua New Guinea’s oldest manufacturing company, Paradise Foods, is marking its 80th year of operations this year, after its humble beginnings as a small town bakery in 1933. Behind the quiet celebrations are big expansion plans, Managing Director David Peate tells Business Advantage PNG.
Papua New Guinea’s retailers and manufacturers alike reporting significant drops in revenue this year. How serious is the downturn?
The ratings agency Standard and Poor’s is adopting a ‘wait and see’ attitude towards the O’Neill government’s nationalisation of the Ok Tedi mine and its owner, the PNG Sustainable Development Program (PNGSDP).
After a two-year investigation into the controversial Special Agricultural Business Leases (SABL) system, reports presented by two of the commissioners have found that only four of the 42 leases they examined had obtained landowner consent.
With Papua New Guinea’s Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) due to receive its first revenues next year, the Governor of the country’s central bank has given his approval. Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund has sounded a note of caution.
The Papua New Guinea Government has increased its stake in mobile phone company Bemobile, following the collapse of a deal with the Fiji National Provident Fund.