Small and medium-sized businesses have the capacity to create jobs and propel Papua New Guinea’s economy, but how can this best be achieved? Business Advantage PNG looks at how banks are supporting the sector.
Industry sectors
The imminent upgrade of defence facilities on Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island should provide significant opportunities for local business and labour, according to Australia’s Department of Defence. But the selection requirements are likely to be demanding.
The Ramu nickel mine in Papua New Guinea’s Madang province had strong first quarter production, according to Nickel 28, the junior partner in the joint venture.
Getting produce to market is one of the biggest constraints on Papua New Guinea’s cocoa industry, according to the Chief Operating Officer of leading cocoa exporter, NGIP Agmark. Steven Nightingale says his company is developing a model that is helping to improve the situation.
The future of one of Papua New Guinea’s highest profile green energy projects, PNG Biomass, appears under a cloud following the move by state-owned utility PNG Power to potentially cancel the power purchase agreement it has with the project.
BSP Financial Group, the Pacific’s largest bank, finally listed on the Australian Securities Exchange yesterday. The move creates a new market for its existing shares and positions the bank to tap into new sources of capital in the future.
Global telecommunications company Speedcast has been working in Papua New Guinea for over 12 years. Tony Waters, Senior Sales Director, says the advances in satellite communication could mean high-speed internet access at a good price for the country’s 22 provinces.
It will take ‘the next two to three years’ before PNG Air, Papua New Guinea’s second domestic airline, can foresee a return back to pre-COVID levels of business activity, according to statement issued to Papua New Guinea’s stock exchange yesterday.
The vision for reforming Papua New Guinea’s power sector is becoming clearer, with power auctions likely to play a major role in driving down electricity prices and helping the country meet its future electricity needs.
Kumul Petroleum has announced that the PNG government has negotiated an additional seven per cent equity with future joint venture projects with Total after ‘remobilisation talks’ regarding the Papua LNG project in Paris last week.