Trade Minister Maru says he will recommend the government abandon its proposed rice policy, Bougainville landowners want government to hold its BCL shares, and Fiji says there are no bans on PNG imports. Your weekly digest of the latest business news.

Trade Minister Richard Maru, has told Parliament the proposal by the National Government to give 80 per cent rice import quota to an investor to plant rice in PNG will break international trade laws. PNG Loop quotes Maru telling Parliament it is: ‘also a policy that is not worth pursuing’.

***

Landowners in Bougainville say they want the national government to transfer the 17.4 per cent of shares in Bougainville Copper Ltd (BCL) that it plans to give them to the Autonomous Bougainville Government instead. O’Neill had proposed giving landowners its shares that former BCL owner, Rio Tinto, gave to the national government after it pulled out of Bougainville.

But ABG President John Momis has told Business Advantage PNG that 40 representatives of the nine landowner groups, including the Me’ekamui Government of Unity, resolved that the ABG should hold the shares on their behalf. Momis said landowners also agreed BCL ‘now has just minimal value … which will only change if the mine re-opens’.

***

Fiji Trade Minister, Faiyaz Koya.

Fiji’s Trade Minister, Faiyaz Koya, has denied there are bans on food items or imports from PNG. The Post Courier reports that Koya had invited Trade Minister Maru to travel to Fiji so that both could resolve the trade impasse, after Maru reportedly said Fiji had banned Ox & Palm corned beef. But in a statement Koya says no importers in Fiji have applied to import PNG products, specifically the Ox & Palm corned beef.

***

Bank South Pacific recorded a K158.1 million profit in the second quarter of this year – an increase of 10 per cent on the first quarter, according to The National. The increase was reportedly attributable to improved interest and lending income, and increased foreign exchange income driven by more foreign currencies being traded in the quarter.

***

Harmony Gold Mining has applied to the Mineral Resources Authority for a special mining lease for the Wafi-Golpu project. The submission follows the completion of a feasibility study by Harmony and Newcrest Mining, Harmony’s joint venture partner in the project.

***

The decision by the Government to offload 33 per cent of its equity shares in Ok Tedi to landowners and Western Province has been welcomed by the board of directors of Mineral Resources Star Mountains. Board chairman Bill Menim said the decision will allow the locals to have direct equity participation in the project rather than just receiving dividends.

***

Cattle on the way to East Sepik. Credit: EMTV

The cattle industry is being revived in East Sepik, with 100 cows shipped into Maprik town, reports EMTV. Livestock farming is not a new concept in East Sepik. Prior to independence, Maprik used to supply beef to other districts in the province, until TB struck stock. Two more shipments of cows and pigs are expected.

Musician Armstrong Gomara

There has been an ‘alarming’ increase in music piracy, which is ‘killing the industry’ according to Armstrong Gomara or DadiGii. The Post Courier reports Gomara saying that the 120 per cent rise has been made possible through the introduction of social media and file sharing applications such as WhatsApp groups.

***

A visiting trade delegation from New Zealand is in Port Moresby this week, to visit business houses, and facilitate trade, reports EMTV.

***