The new CEO of Digicel PNG believes the company is evolving into a provider of content as well as supplying connectivity. Maurice McCarthy tells Business Advantage PNG his first priority is to increase access to Digicel’s expanded network. Business Advantage PNG (BAPNG): In Fiji, you built up Digicel’s corporate business as well as its retail structure. What are your priorities in PNG? Maurice McCarthy (MMcC): In line with Digicel’s global approach, we in Papua New

The fall in global oil and gas prices will reduce the Papua New Guinea government’s revenue by at least K1.1 billion in 2016. A new Budget strategy is needed, argue economists Stephen Howe and Paul Flanagan, who suggest a solution may lie in the government selling its Oil Search shares. The extent to which falling international commodity prices will hit the PNG has been revealed by the ANZ Bank’s Pacific Quarterly Review. While the authors

The next 12 months or so is a time to digest and consolidate, says Peter Langslow, the incoming head of one of Papua New Guinea’s largest and oldest companies, Steamships Trading Company. He told Business Advantage PNG, however, it is also a time to prepare for fresh opportunities. Peter Langslow is a 30-year veteran with London-headquartered John Swire and Sons, which owns 72% of Steamships. He took up the CEO/MD position with Steamships in mid-January,

Major changes to Papua New Guinean company law have important ramifications for company directors, company secretaries, and those involved winding up a company. Richard Kriedemann and Sarah Kuman report on the impact of the new laws.The PNG parliament has passed amendments to the PNG Companies Act and introduced a new Business Names Act (2014).Directors need to familiarise themselves with their new duties under the changes. Companies Act Directors and company secretaries must be aware of

Papua New Guinea’s central bank has moved to stop offshore foreign banks, which don’t operate in PNG, trading in the Kina. From this month, people and companies wanting to trade in Kina and foreign currencies will only be able to use one of six authorised dealers. Since July last year, after the Bank intervened to peg the Kina against the US dollar and define a tighter trading range, individuals and companies have been opening offshore

Papua New Guinea’s largest retailer, the CPL Group, does not plan to allow a slowdown in the marketplace to get in the way of its strategy for growth, Chairman Mahesh Patel tells Business Advantage PNG. Despite a challenging retail environment, CPL Group Chairman Mahesh Patel explains says the diversified retail group is not just aiming to consolidate its position, but is seeking further expansion. ‘Since 2008 and 2009, we’ve just been busy growing, and we’ve

Progress in fostering economic and social development is threatened by the recent drop in global energy prices. Paul Barker provides practical ways to minimise the impact of the downturn. 2015 has been heralded as the year when PNG will enjoy the highest GDP growth rate in the world, on the back of its first full year of liquefied natural gas production. Confidence in the anticipated revenue from the ExxonMobil-led PNG LNG project has encouraged the

Papua New Guinea’s tuna industry leaders are calling for reform of the regional Vessel Day Scheme, saying it is counterproductive, speeding up stock depletion, with the size of catches getting smaller. The Vessel Day Scheme (VDS) has been operating since 2005, designed to ‘constrain and reduce catches of target tuna species, and increase the rate of return from fishing activities’ by a complex system of fees paid to member countries of the Parties to the

It’s critical for the future of Papua New Guinea’s forestry and manufacturing sectors that the Government’s planned 40,000 ‘affordable houses’ be built in PNG by local suppliers, industry leaders tell Business Advantage PNG. The O’Neill government announced plans last June for the National Housing Corporation to build a total of 40,000 affordable homes in Port Moresby to relieve a housing shortage, to be funded with offshore finance. But the Housing Minister Paul Isikeli has suggested

Business and employment travel into Papua New Guinea has more than tripled in the last 15 years, outperforming leisure travel, which has see marginal growth over the last five years. Robert Upe reports. Papua New Guinea tourism was in the world spotlight in 2014, with a startling publicity campaign in New York. Two PNG tribesmen, in traditional dress, stopped cars and crowds as they wandered the streets of the Big Apple and visited sites such

Papua New Guinea’s Parliament is likely to approve establishing the long-awaited Sovereign Wealth Fund by June, after unanimously voting for its enactment at its first reading last week. The Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) is critical for the country’s future, says Paul Barker, Executive Director of the Institute of National Affairs, an industry-funded PNG think-tank, but says it is crucial that the standard of accountability is high. Globally, there are about 78 SWFs, with a combined

Papua New Guinea is well positioned to benefit from rising LNG demand, despite falling prices, InterOil’s Managing Director Michael Hession tells Business Advantage PNG. InterOil’s Hession has told Business Advantage PNG he doubts the recent fall in global oil and gas prices will affect InterOil’s plans for the prospective second LNG project, the Elk-Antelope fields. ‘We don’t expect near-term production revenue to be affected by falling oil prices and LNG production from Elk-Antelope is scheduled