In spite of a ‘challenging’ 2015 and tough market conditions, the latest Bank South Pacific analysis suggests that the ‘worst period may be over’ in Papua New Guinea. However, it is cautious about the prospects for the government’s planned US$1 billion ‘circuit breaker’ sovereign bond issue.
The current rise in the US dollar is likely to flatten in 2016, offering respite to Pacific curencies, according to ANZ economists, Glenn Maguire and Eugin Lee.
The creation of a registry of personal assets to be used as loan security will boost the small business sector, according to Moses Liu, the Managing Director of the National Development Bank.
Claims by the international media, and one outlet in particular, about the conditions and communities along the Kokoda Track have threatened the reputation of the tourism and trekking industry in PNG, writes Genevieve Nelson, the CEO of the Kokoda Track Foundation.
Malaysia’s diversified Rimbunan Hijab Group is a major investor in Papua New Guinea. Managing Director James Lau talks to Business Advantage PNG about the company’s current construction projects, how its retail, agribusiness and forestry subsidiaries are performing, and the economic outlook for 2016.
An analysis of Papua New Guinea’s three main power grids has revealed that inadequate maintenance of plants and the transmission lines is the primary cause of frequent power outages, according to a review conducting by London-based consultants, Economic Consulting Associates. The review also comes with some recommendations.
A new ‘Bougainville Bar’ has gone on sale in New Zealand this month, marking an increased awareness by international chocolate makers of Papua New Guinea’s high quality cocoa. As Business Advantage PNG discovers, the project was made possible through a very modern form of capital raising: crowdfunding.
The Ramu 2 Hydro Power Project is expected to increase total electricity generation capacity in Papua New Guinea by 36%, according to the Managing Director of Kumul Consolidated Holdings, Garry Hersey. It’s one of five new energy projects launched recently.
Hopes are high that an action plan to resolve the problems facing Papua New Guinea’s three main power grids will be endorsed at a key stakeholders’ meeting in Port Moresby this week, according to Gavin Murray, the International Finance Corporation’s (IFC) Country Manager for the Pacific region.
PNG’s state-owned mine is undergoing a radical restructuring which will result in a 25% workforce cut and see the company move to a Fly-In, Fly-Out operation, says Managing Director and CEO, Peter Graham.