Driving change through the establishment of a small businesses may seem way off for some small startups, but with commitment and the right attitude this can be achieved. That was the message from Brisbane Broncos Ambassador and former Club Captain, Alex Glen when speaking about his small business and who he got into the idea of helping the youths in his community in New Zealand, find that right path in life. The former professional rugby league player turned SME owner, said one thing that rugby league taught him in his run with the best team in the Australian NRL was discipline, commitment, the right attitude and having that high fitness level. This is what he wants to pass on to the next generation so that they too can progress in life and achieve things that he and others in his age group and older, have not been able achieve. “The feeling that you get, when you give and you see people thrive, it’s worth more than money. That was what I wanted to do. That was my passion,” said Alex. He also encouraged SMEs in Papua New Guinea to also thrive in what they do and also give back to the community that has helped them grow. Alex said this when speaking at the BSP Leadership & SME Immersion 2023 event held last evening in the Port Moresby where the Broncos team representatives were the guests of honour.

The incoming Papua New Guinea (PNG) national MP for North Bougainville, Francesca Semoso, says "what you see is what you get". Semoso is the third woman MP in PNG's national parliament and the first woman from Bougainville to win The incoming Papua New Guinea (PNG) national MP for North Bougainville, Francesca Semoso, says "what you see is what you get" seat in the national parliament. A staunch advocate for Bougainville's independence, she is part of the PNG prime minister James Marape's Pangu Pati. Semoso said Marape knows she has been pushing for independence in Bougainville for the past twenty years. She said the catalyst for standing in the by-election for the national seat, after two terms in the Bougainville parliament, was the overwhelming result for independence in the referendum in 2019. "Knowing in 2019 when the results came out that the people of Bougainville wanted to be independent, which they assured through the ballot box, it dawned on me that we had to have a voice that would actually be pushing for that particular issue," she said. "But never did it ever cross my mind that I would be running for the national election. I thought the stakes were too high for me at that time." She said the four Bougainville MPs must work together to get the independence message across. Bougainville is expecting to achieve independence by 2027 but this is reliant on the PNG Parliament backing their plan. Semoso said they all need to work together to convince their other colleagues. "We have got to start dialoguing. We need to make the non-Bougainvilleans in that parliament, we need to start sensitising them about where we have been, to where we are, to where we are going," she told RNZ Pacific. "So, nothing will be understood until after I and the other three MPs start talking about the issues of Bougainville." Passionate about women in politics The new national MP also spoke about her time in the Bougainville parliament, in which she spent two terms from 2005 to 2010 and then from 2015 to 2020, holding one of the three seats reserved for wommen. Semoso said she has always advocated getting more women into parliament, and is passionate about the Bougainville reserve seats. "I have always looked at the reserve seats in Bougainville as a launching pad for aspiring women politicians." Marape said Semoso's election showed his Pangu Pati's commitment to promoting women into leadership roles. The victory bolsters Pangu Pati's representation, giving them 54 seats in the national parliament, up from the 39 they won in the election in 2022. "Semoso's election stands as a beacon of hope and progress, highlighting the remarkable strides being made towards gender equality in PNG," he said. Source:rnz.com

The newly opened Papua New Guinea (PNG) Embassy in Jerusalem in Israel remains closed at this time after opening just last month, due to the current Israel- Palestine war that has left most of Gaza in ruins from Israeli bombardments. The Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary, Mr. Elias Wohengu in a statement said that the two PNG Foreign Affairs officers assigned to the new Embassy there have already departed Jerusalem after the Embassy was closed on the 17th of October in view of security concerns. The two officers left Israel on the same day. “A number of PNG citizens in Israel at the time also departed with the kind support of the Australian Government as part of their evacuation exercise extended to nationals of other countries. The department is aware that eighteen PNG citizens departed Israel under this evacuation exercise,” said the secretary. Secretary Wohengu also stated that the Embassy’s closure is only temporary. Meanwhile, the Department is asking the members of the public who might know of any fellow PNG citizens that is still in Israel and wishing to return to the country, to contact the Office of the Chief of Protocol, Department of Foreign Affairs on phone 301 4115 or 301 4196 and email protocol@dfa.gov.pg. The Department will continue to monitor the situation and re- open the Embassy in Israel when deemed conducive to do so.

The Brisbane Broncos team are in Port Moresby once again for a visitation to schools, to BSP branches and other organizations, and this morning the team dropped by the PNGFM office to pay a visit to the Yumi FM, Nau FM and Legend FM studios and meeting the staff and radio personalities. Former club Captain and Broncos ambassador, Alex Glen is among the group members that dropped by. The team included Broncos hooker Tyson Smoothy, Cameron Bukowski who joins the NRL Squad this year after graduating from High School, and the NRLW team representatives Romy Teitzel and Annette- Claudia Nu’uausala. Alex, who is on his second visit to Port Moresby, told the PNGFM staff about their trip so far and what they have been doing in the city. He also said that the reception they had from the people was awesome. “We went to some of the schools we yesterday. Some of the branches (BSP) around Port Moresby as well. It’s unbelievable, it’s something you cherish,” said Alex. “Back in Brisbane everyone loves the Broncos, but when you’re here you know you’re at Broncos territory. It’s a beautiful thing.” The former Captain also said that the Broncos legacy that they have is so much more than just footy now, which plays into their trip to Port Moresby. “We got our community programs with the Beyond Broncos, we go out to 54 schools and mentor a lot of youths.” "That’s what it’s about right? It’s about being mentors and leading by example for our kids so that they can go on and achieve greater things that we never did,” he said. Meanwhile, the Broncos team had a fun morning with the PNGFM team, taking questions from the staff and also visiting the studios and photo shoots. The PNGFM steam were also grateful for the visit. The visit by the Broncos team to Port Moresby was made possible once again by its partner BSP Financial Group Limited (BSP).

The very recently held 14th World Indigenous Business Forum (WIBF) brought to light some of the important things that needed to be addressed going forward in supporting the growth indigenous businesses. The Minister for International Trade and Investment, Richard Maru said that it is high time the National Government recognizes the need for Papua New Guinean indigenous businesses. “There are so many Papua new Guinean indigenous entrepreneurs who have done so much without Government support. This Forum allowed them to come and display their products and many of us were really inspired. I am so impressed of the energy and the drive of our people,” said the minister. “They did not wait for the Government; they did what they had to do. Papua New Guineans have the potential and all they need is support. We (government) need to look at how we can support our entrepreneurs, how we can nurture them, and how we can incentivize the growth of the indigenous private sector.” Minister Maru said these are the issues that the State needs to look at and organize itself to support PNG’s indigenous business community, especially in industries that replace imports and grow exports. “Our Government must build a broad-based economy that will create job and generate wealth,” Minister Maru added. Minister Maru said one of the ways to help the local indigenous businesses grow, is through such forums. And with that, the announced that first Papua New Guinea Indigenous Business Forum will be hosted next year with the theme ‘Replacing Imports and Growing Exports’. “We need to help our indigenous businesses to rise up and take their place in this country,” said Minister Maru.

The New Porgera Limited (NPL) is in support of a recent media statement by the Mineral Resources Authority (MRA) stating that the recent signing of the Mining Development Contact and the grant of Porgera Special Mining Lease (SML) 13, fully complied with the country's processes and law. Although the SML13 has now been granted under the Mining Act, no mining activities can be conducted by NPL prior to compensation being agreed with landowners or otherwise determined in accordance with the Act. NPL began discussions in Porgera last week with 14 mining tenement landowner clans represented by their agents. Under the Mining Act, compensation agreements are between landowning clans, represented by their agents, and the tenement holder. NPL has asked landowners to agree to continue honouring the old Porgera compensation arrangements to allow the mine to reopen this year, ahead of a review of compensation arrangements planned post reopening of the mine. Any increase in compensation amounts determined as a result of that review will be backdated to ensure that landowners are not prejudiced by the deferral of negotiations. The overwhelming majority of landowner agents from each tenement were in favour of the NPL proposal and expressed their wish to see the mine reopen as soon as possible. They said they had suffered with the mine closure for over 3 years, which had badly impacted the lives of their families and did not want to see restart postponed further. The landowner agents were also adamant that all negotiations on compensation agreements should be held in Porgera and should not involve “paper landowners” living in Port Moresby or elsewhere. NPL representatives plan to return to Porgera next week to continue the discussions with Porgera tenement landowner agents with the aim of reaching a resolution on compensation agreements as quickly as possible, so that the Porgera Mine can restart. The company also intends to commence meetings with the Hides Transmission Line agents next week.

Perhaps one of the significant achievements for local indigenous women in business at the 14th World Indigenous Business Forum (WIBF) in Port Moresby, was for Papua New Guinea (PNG) to be a part of and be represented at the Indigenous Women in Industry economic summit coming up in New Zealand. Ms. Rachel Petero, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Rise2025 Global- an indigenous company, said through her company they have helped in growing indigenous leaders and all women for 7 years now. “We have to build pathways that our women can see the pathway to leadership, see the pathway to entrepreneurship and see the pathway to sustainability,” said Ms. Petero. She said that it is because of this that they have come together to host a first of its kind business get together for all indigenous women in business next year. “As part of Rise, what we’ve been doing is building partnerships and we’ve been building a new partnership which is coming to Aotearoa next year February and that is called IWI, which means tribe in New Zealand.” “So, we a growing an Indigenous Women in Industry global tribe. We’re starting in New Zealand on February 04th and Papua New Guinea is going to be part of this economic summit.” To represent PNG at the IWI summit is Ms. Linda Paru, who was appointed by the New Zealand team as PNG’s new Ambassador for the Indigenous Women in Industry body. Ms. Paru said the appointment came as a surprise to her and she accepted it graciously. Ms. Paru was appointed because of her work in the country to help the progress and success of women operated businesses. “I run a social enterprise, PNG Indigenous Women Entrepreneurs Connect. It’s 10 years old and it has 36, 000 members country wide, and this for me is very big because I see it as a blessing because we worked so hard to help women in business.” “I am greatly honoured representing these women and I’d like to say thank you so much to Rachel and the team, the World Indigenous Business Forum for making this possible.”

Two districts in the Highlands region are ready to establish their own District Youth Development Councils to assist their youths in participating in the development of their districts. The two districts are Sinesine Yongomugl in Simbu province and Wabag in Enga province. The Liaison team from the National Youth Development Authority (NYDA) to Wabag and SineSine Yongomugl Districts conducted on-ground consultations from the 7th to the 10th of October, where they met with the District Development Authorities, Provincial Community Development Advisors, Local Level Government (LLG) Managers, Provincial Administrators, representatives from churches, stakeholders and the youths. The assessment from these consultations concluded that both districts are ready to mobilize their youth leaders in preparation for the establishment process of electing their youth council executives and appointed representatives in compliance to the National Youth Development Authority Act 2014. The liaison team from the NYDA also conducted a desktop youth development mapping exercise to connect potential youth programs and projects after the establishment of the youth councils, and further strengthen partnerships and collaboration with key actors in sustaining the operations of the youth councils and programs in both Districts.

The increasing rate of development and economic growth in Papua New Guinea (PNG) would see the country become a go- to- country for investments in next decade. The Minister for International Trade and Investment, Richard Maru said that this presents a great opportunity for world indigenous businesses to connect with local indigenous businesses, so to tap into the opportunities and help develop the country along with it. “In the next ten years, Papua New Guinea will be one of the most exciting investment destinations throughout the world, the opportunities here will be unparalleled,” said the minister. “Yes, we have our challenges today, but the future looks good, and we are looking at investors from right across the world to come and help us unlock our vast economic potential.” He said PNG has a population of 11 million and is growing at a rate of 3.2%, which means that the demand for goods and services will continue to increase. “In terms of population, we are becoming an even bigger market ourselves,” Maru said. Touching on the country’s economic growth rate and the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Minister Maru said PNG expects to hit a GDP of K120 billion and the size of the economy to double in the next 7 years. “We expect by next year our economic growth rate to go from 4% to 5% and we expect in many years to come, be even higher than 5%.” Minister Maru also told the international delegates that the country has major potential for business in the resource sector with 9 projects currently operating and 5 new projects coming up in a few years’ time. In addition to this, he told them that PNG also has fertile land that can be used for agriculture and cattle farming. The ocean’s richness of marine resources and the Special Economic Zones projects coming up and topped by some favorable government policies on investments, makes PNG the go- to- nation for indigenous business investments.

The President of the Republic of Hungary H.E Katalin Novak flew out of Port Moresby to beautiful Manus Island this morning as she embarks on the second day of her Presidential visit to Papua New Guinea (PNG). Whilst there, she will visit and lay wreath at the memorial of the Martyred Missionaries to start off her visit to the island province. After that she will visit the Maria Molnar Training Center where she will be presenting computers to the Maria Molnar Music and Bible School. Following that event, the president will then depart the Manus main island for Pityluh Island to visit the historical site of Hungarian missionary Mari Molnar's house, where she will lay a single flower on the monument in honor of her. President Novak will then depart for Port Moresby after the trip to the island, to wrap up her second day of visit. On the third day, Friday 27th October, the president will pay a courtesy call on the Prime Minister where they will have a closed-door meeting. Meanwhile, the Hungarian President touched down in Port Moresby at 4:50pm on Wednesday 25th October for her three days Presidential Visit to the country. She was officially given a guard of honor put on by the First Royal Pacific Islands Regiment (1RPIR) at the APEC terminal. She was later received by the traditional landowners of Port Moresby city with songs and dances performed to welcome her to their lands.

The approval to host the 14th World Indigenous Business Forum (WIBF) here in the city of Port Moresby is to showcase Papua New Guinea (PNG) to the world that the countrys indigenous businesses can be able compete in business development and partnership with the rest of them, with the right guidance and help. This prestigious international event shows the faith that the WIBF has in the successes of local indigenous businesses in connecting to the rest of the indigenous businesses word wide. Mr. Andrew Carrier, the Vice President Manitoba Metis Federation and Chair ILDII, in his opening speech said the WIBF draws attention to indigenous economies and aims to connect, share and inspire the local indigenous Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) expand and increase their businesses. “We welcome Papua New Guinea into the indigenous brotherhood for positive economic and social reform, with the help of your connection at the world Indigenous Business Forum, said the Vice President. He said the WIBF has been to most parts of the world where they met indigenous businesses and now it is PNGs turn and for the first time too, that WIBF came to assist local businesses looked at exporting through out the world. “The Forum provides and opportunity to connect and continue discussions on economic development with international partnership, specifically to lead and facilitate a greater capacity to build economies for indigenous people and their communities.” The Forum will concentrate on hearing the grass- roots experiences, sharing best practices to overcome a pandemic and prosper despite the obstacles.” He said the international Forum speakers are from multi- sector backgrounds and it promises to be a remarkable few days for participants and delegates.

PNG Power Limited (PPL) will now be working towards appointing a new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) after the incumbent, Mr. Obed Batia handed in his resignation just recently. The PPL Board resolved to accepting his voluntary resignation and thanked Mr. Batia for his 34 years of selfless service to the State-owned power company. During his career with PNG Power, Mr. Batia spent 13 years in Executive Management roles, and lately as the CEO for the last two years. Mr. Batia has contributed immensely to the PNG Power in the various roles he occupied over the years. In the interim, Mr. Nehemaiah Naris will be the Officer in Charge for the time being. Mr. Naris is the incumbent Deputy CEO and has over 15 years of experience holding various senior positions within Kumul Consolidated Holdings and lately as Deputy CEO of PPL. Mr. Naris has an MBA from the University of Illinois and a Master of Laws in Corporate and Commercial Law from the University of Auckland. The PNG Power Board and Management and staff once again thanked Mr. Batia for his services and wished him all the best in his future endeavors.