Business Advantage PNG

PNG in right place, at right time

This is according to Business Advantage PNG as they prepare to host the Papua New Guinea Investment Conference on the 6th and 7th of August.

The Conference will be held at Sofital Brisbane Central, Australia.

PNG will come under the spotlight again, this time to look at its investment climate against the current global economic trend, which is labeled as significant and far reaching.

FOREX a critical issue for PNG businesses

This is according to the PNG 100 CEO Survey 2017 carried out by Business Advantage Papua New Guinea.

The survey revealed that 59.5 per cent of CEO’s nominated access to foreign exchange as a major obstacle to businesses in the country.

Other critical issues highlighted include shortage of expertise and skills (28.6 per cent), unreliable telecommunications (28.6 per cent), and security and law and order (24.4 per cent).

30-year life span estimated for Wafi-Golpu

Executive project director of the Wafi-Golpu Joint Venture, Bryan Bailie, said this during the PNG Chamber of Mining and Petroleum Conference in Sydney early this month.

According to Business Advantage PNG, Bailie says the project could be ‘multi-generational’ and has the potential to be a ‘long duration sustainable mining operation’ that could last ‘28 to 35 years or more’.

If developed, the mine will be the largest underground mine in PNG and the first green field mine development since the Hidden Valley mine commenced in 2009.

InterOil chairman ponders challenge against court decision

Business Advantage PNG reports that InterOil Chairman, Chris Finlayson, says he will challenge the decision by the court to stop the $US2.5 billion (K7.9 billion) transaction from taking place.

Meanwhile, founder and former Chairman of InterOil, Phil Mulacek, tells Business Advantage PNG  that he is open to dialogue.

On November 4, 2016, the Appeal Court of Yukon overturned the Yukon Supreme Court’s ruling that approved ExxonMobils proposal to purchase InterOil.

Fiscal consolidation needed to correct finance imbalance

Cameron Bagrie, ANZ’s New Zealand Chief Economist says in spite of the pressures on the Kina, there are some positive economic signs with forecasts that the Kina will continue to ease until mid-2018.

In an interview with Business Advantage PNG, Bagrie said PNG’s current account has gone from being in a deficit of over 50 per cent of GDP in 2012, to a surplus now.

He adds there is more stability in commodity prices, which has eased pressure on the currency in the short term.

Positives for the oil and gas industries

Business Advantage PNG reports that gas prices returned to the price level of a year ago following a surge of 28.7 percent according to Kina Securities. Meanwhile, Japan/Korea LNG prices are US$6.98 per million British Thermal Units (BTU).

Oil prices also showed welcome signs of strength after rising by 14.3 percent for the month and 38.7 percent for the year. According to Kina Securities, West Texas Intermediate is trading at US$50.85 a barrel.

Reports of China’s demand for imported crude oil has seen robust gains rising 13.5 percent in the first eight months.

Coffee production per hectare is low due to several factors

In an interview with Business Advantage PNG, Monpi Coffee Exports Manager,  Joeri Kalwij, says the low production is due to a number of factors which are:

Poor training of farmers and the state of the trees; bottlenecks at ports due to lengthy and complex export bureaucracy; substandard mills; and the country’s declining infrastructure.

At the top of the list is road and bridge infrastructure, which Kalwij says is crucial for famers in rural PNG to transport their coffee, but has been affected to natural disasters.