There will be a number of big topics to be presented and discussed at the upcoming Innovation PNG 2023 Conference including the topic of Artificial Intelligence (AI), which is quite a new concept to countries like Papua New Guinea (PNG) in terms of using it to create innovations to address some issues faced in the country. According to PNG Advantage International Publishing Director Mr. Andrew Wilkins, one of the hot topics to be presented is Generative Artificial Intelligence like ChatGPT, which can be used to create new content, including audio, code, images, text, simulations, and videos. “We want this conference…
Author: Emmanuel MAIPE
The Port Moresby Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Business Advantage International have confirmed that they will be hosting Innovative PNG 2023 on November in Port Moresby to bring in innovative solutions to problems experienced in the country. The event was first hosted in 2019 but was not staged the following years due to the COVID pandemic. This year will be the first time after three years to be hosted again. Innovation PNG will be the international standard event bringing the best of new technology, creating solutions and innovative thinking to PNG. Mr. Andrew Wilkins, the Publishing Director of Business…
The country’s consumer watchdog, the Independent Consumer and Competitions Commission (ICCC) is conducting a survey with the aim to establish the real basis of the numerous complaints by BSP customers against their bank, BSP Financial Group Limited, following the installation of its new banking system. ICCC Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr. Paulus Ain made mention that the Commission will be making certain recommendations pursuant to this survey. Mr. Ain said that in the past 10 weeks the ICCC has attended to numerous complaints coming in from all the four regions of the country, relating to the recent BSP…
The Kumul Petroleum Holdings Limited (KPHL) will now be working alongside the Ihu Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Development Company to conduct a feasibility study on power generation solution for the SEZ in the Gulf province. This was made possible through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between KPHL and Ihu SEZ in Port Moresby on Tuesday, 27th June. KPHL Managing Director Mr. Wapo Sonk said they will look at the most appropriate power solution for the Ihu SEZ, which could include renewable energy source like hydro. The Managing Director for the Ihu SEZ Development Company, Mr. Peter Kengemar, said the…
The youths in the Sumkar district in Madang province now have a District Youth Development Council to run programs that will help the youths in their development and contribution to their community. The establishment of the Sumkar District Youth Development Council on the 23rd of June at the Sumgilbar Local Level Government (LLG) Chambers in Gibrin, was the direct result of the partnership between the National Youth Development Authority (NYDA) and the Sumkar District Development Authority (DDA). The establishment brought together a total of 128 Youth representatives from the 33 wards of Karkar and 31 wards of Sumgilbar to convene…
The Internal Revenue Commission (IRC) initiated transfer pricing audit into taxpayers in the country has seen its first case of tax evasion identified in the logging sector, committed by a prominent logging operator. The IRC announced that it has imposed a substantial K140 million tax assessment against a logging operator (identity withheld) in Papua New Guinea (PNG) for engaging in illicit tax evasion, specifically through transfer pricing. This amended assessment (tax bill) is a direct outcome of an extensive transfer pricing audit conducted on the taxpayer. This was revealed today by the Commissioner General Sam Koim when announcing the outcome…
BSP customers experiencing challenges with the recently implemented Flexcube by the BSP Financial Group Limited, can now raise their complaints with the Central Bank or the Bank of Papua New Guinea (BPNG). According to the BPNG, there have been reports of some BSP customers experiencing challenges with the recently implemented core banking system by BSP. The Flexcube was designed to provide a greater range of digitally enabled services, provide enhanced benefit to its customers and reduce business risk. In view of this, the Central Bank has set up a Customer Complaints Help Desk to help resolve any issues relating to…
Dataco Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Paul Komboi has advised that the network outage to most parts of the Momase region and some parts of the Highlands region, is due to a current exercise being conducted by PNG Power Limited (PPL), which will see transmission lines moved to a new pole between Ramu, Lae and Madang. Mr. Komboi told PNG HAUSBUNG that due to PNG Dataco’s reliance on PPL for the of usage of power for their Fiber optic cables, it is a must that the relocation to the new proposed site includes temporary shutting down of services to facilitate this…
The Internal Revenue Commission (IRC) Tax Mapping Exercise continues in the city of Port Moresby and remains steadfast in its commitment to a comprehensive and inclusive approach. According to the IRC, the mapping exercise aims to encompass all taxpayers within the National Capital District (NCD) without discrimination based on sector, nationality, or business size. The teams updating the taxpayer register know that the significant number of Tax Identification Number (TIN) holders in NCD, remain unidentified for tax compliance purposes; hence, the importance of this taxpayer mapping exercise. During day 8 of the Taxpayer Mapping Exercise on Friday 23rd June, the…
The Goilala community residing at the Kasia settlement just outside Bomana in Port Moresby, are taking matters into their own hands by going to the legal process to get justice for the destruction of their homes, allegedly by police and Correctional Service (CS) Officers earlier this year. It been almost three months and those innocent people whose lives have been affected are now seeking justice in the court. It was alleged that more than 40 homes were burnt down to ashes and the community is now living in makeshift shelters since April. A community leader, who requested anonymity, said they…