Rigo Rice, perhaps the biggest successful rice project in Papua New Guinea (PNG), is the main one amongst six other projects to get their licenses this year to operate as a Special Economic Zone (SEZ). Minister for International Trade and Investment, Richard Maru, said that Rigo Rice in the Central province has set a benchmark for the rest of the projects to venture into a large-scale project that can be turned into a SEZ that would generate employment for thousands and contribute to the economy going forward. “Rigo Rice, they are already an existing project and they have spent a…
Author: Emmanuel MAIPE
The efforts put into Papua New Guinea better having access to trade and foreign investment opportunities has just been complemented with the launching of the National Trade Portal, the Export Readers and Investment Guides.The three were launched by the National Trade Office (NTO) in Port Moresby in a significant ceremony witnessed by the Minister for Internal Trade and Investments Richard Maru and the Deputy Prime Minister John Rosso.The Chief Trade Officer Mr. Richard Yakam said the portal and the guides are what will give the right information to portential investors about PNG, it’s market, its SMEs and potential to trade…
The Simbu provincial government is ready to move forward with the development of the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Karamui after reaffirming its commitment to work with the Department of International Trade and Investment to get the project off the ground. That commitment was in the form of K1million presented to the department during the inaugural SEZ Summit held in Port Moresby this week. Simbu Governor Noah Kool said the funding is from the provincial government because they want to see this happen for the province. “We want this to happen that’s why we got the landowners of Karamui, the…
The Ihu Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in the Gulf province is on its way to become a fully registered SEZ project after development partners hopped on the band wagon to support this major project reach its fruition. The Ihu Special Economic Zone team signed 4 contracts with partners to start the development of project area in the Gulf province. The partners include China Railway Construction Company to build and upgrade the roads to the SEZ, Dataco PNG for communication links along with WR Carpenters. “The Ihu SEZ is not registered yet, but from the pace that they are going they…
The success of the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) projects in Papua New Guinea (PNG) will depend on a lot of things going forward, but perhaps the most important thing to address in the context of PNG, is landownership. Minister for International Trade and Investment Richard Maru, said land is the most significant thing in the SEZ projects because the landowners will participate and benefit as well from it. Minister Maru said the idea is not just for the state to buy off land from customary landowners, but to have equal participation whereby landowners register their land and get a title…
The inaugural Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Summit started this morning with talks on the difference models of SEZs, the financing, and partnership. Mr. Shubhojeet Chakavary from Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC) India said financing a SEZ is usually done as per the SEZ model. Giving his talk this morning, he said for a Public Private Partnership approach like that in Papua New Guinea, the financing is done by private sector investment while the state remains the facilitor for enabling a conducive environment to do business. That would mean enabling ease in financing the project, including making foreign currency available, something which…
Papua New Guinea will remain part of the Commonwealth group of nations under the new reign of King Charles III. That was known to the people by the Prime Minister James Marape when officiating at the in- country celebration marking the Coronation of King Charles III on Saturday 06th May in Port Moresby. Marape said their have been critics saying that PNG should consider not remaining in the Commonwealth and having the Monarchy as the head of state. But, PM Marape said PNG will continue being part of the biggest block of nations in the world because of the continued…
Papua New Guinea (PNG) joined the rest of the Commonwealth nations to celebrate the Coronation of King Charles III with an in- country ceremony yesterday Saturday 06th of May, held at the Sir Hubert Murray Stadium in Port Moresby city during the evening. Acting Governor General and Speaker of Parliament, Job Pomat, said PNG has a long history with the Monarchy having shared many interests, and conveyed on behalf of the people of PNG the country’s warmest congratulations of His Majesty’s Coronation as King of the United Kingdom (UK) and the Commonwealth realm of nations. “We value our ties with…
The Papua LNG project, which is expected to go into its construction phase in 2024 onwards, is expected to recruit over a thousand skilled workforce; presenting a big opportunity for Papua New Guineans to work in the next big LNG project. The upcoming LNG project will require skilled workforce in place and ready for the construction phase when it eventually commences, and the recruitment for this should be handled well with the assistance of a new online career portal that was developed by Kumul Petroleum Holdings Limited (KPHL). Just this week on Tuesday the Papua LNG operator TotalEnergies EP PNG…
Papua New Guinea (PNG) is ready to host its first Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Summit with delegates from seven countries converge on the Stanley Hotel in Port Moresby this weekend to start this important summit. Minister for International Trade and Investment Richard Maru said that there should be about 450 delegates, both international and local, to be here in the nation’s capital for the summit. “International speakers from six countries are arriving, the Japanese team have already arrived and the rest will be arriving on Saturday to speak as presenters during the summit,” said the minister. The aim of the…