LAE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE CHRISTMAS FUNCTION As advised last week the LCCI will again put on a Christmas function this year. This function will be run conjointly with our member “International SOS Limited”, who will be bringing their Health Directors, to make a presentation of their operation as well as discussing the value of pre-employment and annual health checks, vaccination programs, health risk assessments, health promotion, first aid training and medical emergency response plans. This

The Papua New Guinea economy is on the edge of a ‘slippery slope’, if the Bank of PNG finances government debt and continues to fix the exchange rate at too high a rate. Former Australian Treasury advisor Paul Flanagan argues rising inflation, falling foreign exchange reserves and declining private sector credit growth are compounding the problem. The Bank has agreed to purchase any government bills and stocks that aren’t picked up by the private market,

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy (BASCAP) group called today on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its 10 member states to do more to promote the value of intellectual property (IP) as a key driver for the region’s growth and economic development, and to step up intellectual property right (IPR) enforcement actions to stop counterfeiting and piracy and other IPR infringements that are hurting the

The O’Neill government is preparing to deliver its 2015 budget, against a backdrop of rising government debt and rising expenditure. Business Advantage PNG asks what business needs and what it might expect. With income from agriculture and the resources sector down, business leaders and analysts are expecting a tough 2015. ‘We have low commodity prices at the moment,’ says the Institute of National Affairs’ Paul Barker. ‘The old reliables that provided PNG revenues from-gold, copper

PAPUA New Guinea’s relationship with the European Union is growing from being predominantly based on development support to increased trade and investment engagement through business cooperation, according to the prime minister. Peter O’Neill discussed the matter during a meeting with the European Union head of delegation to Papua New Guinea, ambassador Martin Dihm in Port Moresby. Following the meeting, O’Neill said more PNG products were being sold in European countries than ever before, and European

The steady emergence of Papua New Guinea’s Barramundis national cricket side has led the sport’s managing body in the country to introduce professional player contracts—a major step in the development of the sport in PNG. Professionalism in Papua New Guinean cricket has taken a significant step forward after the national team’s players signed inaugural full-time contracts last month. PNG’s national team, known as the Barramundis, is currently competing as full-time professionals for the first time

The Chairman of Papua New Guinea’s Independent Public Business Corporation (IPBC), Paul Nerau, has flagged a ‘tsunami’ of government-backed development projects worth billions of kina, including the relocation of Port Moresby’s port and gas-generated electricity. Now that is up and running, it is time to look at other infrastructure projects and ensure they are built and managed professionally, he said, and that would involve a ‘second tsunami’ of investment, involving telecommunications, ports and energy. Major

On 8 October 2014, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) hosted an event in Washington D.C. on the outlook of the upcoming G20 Summit in Brisbane. The event brought together Australian and US government officials, business leaders and international policy experts to discuss expectations for the Australian G20 Summit to take place next month. In the run up to the Leaders Summit, ICC and CSIS co-hosted

As part of the 2012 Alotau Accord, the O’Neill Government agreed to establish an Infrastructure Development Authority to ‘take ownership’ of Cabinet decisions and oversee major infrastructure projects in Papua New Guinea. Business Advantage PNG spoke recently to the authority’s interim Managing Director, John Kaio. Business Advantage PNG (BAPNG): What role will the Authority play in helping ensure infrastructure projects in which the government participates are delivered in an appropriate way? John Kaio (JK): The authority

Papua New Guinea’s largest cocoa grower, trader and exporter, Agmark, says cocoa yields in East New Britain could double, as a result of new technology arising from the battle to recover from the impact of the cocoa pod borer. The province used to be the chief provider of cocoa, with annual yields of more than 25,000 tonnes until the cocoa pod borer (CPB) hit. More than 80 per cent of cocoa farmers abandoned their plantations

Scheduled road projects in Papua New Guinea will cost around K7 billion over the next five years, according to David Wereh, Secretary of the Department of Works and Implementation, with almost K2.6 billion of works currently under way. But PNG’s poorly-maintained existing roads represent a ‘time bomb’ for the country. According to David Wereh, the main focuses of the Department of Works and Implementation’s road building program over the next five years were rebuilding the

Restricting the margins at which the kina can be traded against the US dollar has had little positive effect, with some companies struggling to pay bills, as the central bank reportedly restricts the purchase of US currency, Manufacturers Council of Papua New Guinea CEO Chey Scovell tells Business Advantage PNG. Companies seeking to pay bills are being told they can only buy in five thousand kina amounts, the Chief Executive of the Manufacturers Council of