The National Parliament will be hosting a first of its kind National Content Conference with the aim to promote business and state partnership in pursuing the development agenda of the country. The Acting Speaker of Parliament, Koni Iguan said this Conference is part of the Speaker of Parliament, Job Pomat’s, initiative to engage with the business community. “I am pleased to announce the hosting of a conference by the National Parliament in collaboration with the Papua New Guinea Business Council to be held in the State Function Room on Monday 07th August from 8am to 4pm,” said the acting speaker. The theme of the conference is “Shared Values Strengthens and Builds Papua New Guinea.” Mr. Iguan went on to say that the focus of the event is to bring together the business community and members of parliament to discuss issues of mutual and national importance. Meanwhile, speakers for the National Content Conference include the likes of Business Council of PNG President Nuni Kulu, the Director Operations PNG Tribal Foundation, Ruth Kissam, and the Senior Vice President for PNG Chamber of Mines and Petroleum, Richard Kassman. The Conference will have six sessions where speakers will be presenting on topics ranging from business to national content.

The Asian Development Bank is forecasting continued economic growth for Pacific economies heading into 2024. This week, the ADB released its latest edition of the Pacific Economic Monitor which projects collective growth of 3.3 percent for Pacific economies in 2023 and 2.8 percent in 2024. The lead author of the report Cara Tinio told Pacific Waves the growth was driven by a wide range of factors which differed from country to country. In Papua New Guinea, growth is projected to be driven mostly by output outside the resource sector. "So resource here they define mostly as their mining and their natural gas resources. So more of agricultural exports, and services as business activity normalizes with the reopening of borders," Tinio said. She said for ADB developing member states in the region such as Fiji, Samoa, Cook Islands and Tonga "there is a bit more competition now" following the reopening of international borders. Tourism is at the heart of economic growth for Pacific nations, bringing in much-needed foreign exchange earnings and creating employment. "In 2019, there were 2.2. million visitor arrivals to the region which generated receipts of $US4 billion, contributing nearly 8 percent to regional GDP and directly employing over 90,000 people," according to the Pacific Tourism Statistics Strategy 2021-2023. However, the covid-19 pandemic in 2020 decimated the industry after global travel restrictions began. "I think we are looking at a lot of [countries] still working to catch up...the tourism-dependent economies, especially the ones which opened just recently. I think they are still a bit below than the arrivals in 2019, said Cara Tinio. "There was some negative growth in some of our economies during the pandemic so there were some setbacks due to the economic impacts of the pandemic; so they are still working on offsetting those." Tinio said the pandemic resulted in a "few changes" due to the impact of the pandemic. "Governments had to spend to help soften the blow to the people who lost employment or had to close their businesses," she said. "Given that we do have small economies with narrow bases and revenues may be limited, a few economists had to take on a lot more debt." "Fortunately in other economies they had access to grant financing so there was less or no need to borrow in in their cases." She said a number of the Pacific economies would be looking at options to reduce the debt that they have amassed during the pandemic. Tinio added that ensuring they "monitor spending and maintain discipline in this area" would be necessary for their future economic growth. Source: Radio NZ

The Member for Jimi Open, Wake Goi wants to see the plantations for cash crops like cocoa, coffee, and copra are revived to the state where they once were in the country during a time when the agriculture sector contributed a whole lot to Papua New Guinea's (PNG) economic growth and development. The member acknowledged the significance of the mining and petroleum sectors and what they can contribute to the country, but he said the focus should be given more to the agriculture sector and he appreciated what the government is doing now for this particular sector. He stressed that striking a balance between the renewable and the non- renewable resources is the way forward. “We must encourage our plantations to return, and we must help out with good funding support so that the farmers can get a good return from their crops,” said the member. The member went on to say that the government’s effort to revive the agriculture sector is being complemented by its Connect PNG program. “Thank you for connecting the missing links which Jimi shares with the border of seven electorates, at least we give priority to our roads and other infrastructures. It’s a good investment that has been made.” He further thanked the government for the program because now it has opened up access for cash crop farmers in his electorate to access and reach better markets outside to sell their produce. The member said this during Grievance Debate on the floor of parliament today when supporting calls to further strengthen the agriculture sector.

The issues of unemployment and law and order needs a holistic approach by various sectors of the economy to address. Prime Minister James Marape made mention of this in Parliament today when responding to questions from the Opposition Leader during question time. Marape said the matter of the vagrancy act enforcement, law enforcement and creating employment for the people, especially youths, comes back to the justice section, police and the government through its relevant departments to work together to address. He said the government is working on this through the current upgrading of the Judiciary system with the restructuring going on, and the engagement of more judges from overseas. This to improve the justice system so it works effectively in dealing with law breakers and their rehabilitation. For the police, PM Marape said the police and the Minister for Justice have been tasked to relook the vagrancy act and how it can be implemented going forward so to control the increased migration of people from rural to urban centers, which is the cause of increased settlements and crime in cities and towns. For employment, Marape said his government since taking office in 2019, has put in initiatives and programs in the SME sector, agriculture sector and resource sector to create employment for Papua New Guineans. "All of these has to be looked at in totality, the population is at 10million and poses a major challenge," said the PM. He added that the law and justice sector is not functioning effectively and is the reason behind the poor state of law and order seen over the past years; however, his government continues to work towards addressing it. Meanwhile, the PM said he will be giving a full statement on what his government is doing regarding rural urban drift, unemployment, law and order and the vagrancy act on a later parliament sitting date.

The Cardiac Outpatient at the Port Moresby General Hospital has since improved on its services to the public with over a thousand patients being attended to so far, since it received support from the Kumul Petroleum Holdings Limited (KPHL) in 2020. This was made known today by the Chairman of the Special Parliamentary Committee on Health Matters, Elias Kapavore, when presenting the Preliminary Report on the Committee’s fact finding mission on the Provincial Health Authorities of East Sepik, Eastern Highlands and the National Capital District (NCD), in parliament today. Mr. Kapavore said since the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) signed on the 19th of August 2020, KPHL has provided K10million each year from the total of K50million to be spent over a period of five years as per the MoA. From the funding over the period of years since the signing, the facility was fully upgraded and completed and equipped with new cardiac equipment. However, although some improvements have been made, Kapavore also made mentioned that a human resources structure has not been approved yet for the Cardiology unit by the Department of Personnel Management, despite submissions made. “The Committee noted funding support of K50million received from KPHL and K12million funding from PIP for the year 2022 for the Heart Centre. Between 2021 and 2022, the Cath lab took on a total of 703 cases (547 males and 156 females). He further added that the Cardiac Outpatient received and diagnosed over 1, 600 patients mostly between ages 1 and 11 years, old and young adults between the ages of 21 and 31. Meanwhile, Mr. Kapavore also made mentioned that the Committee is aware of the Port Moresby General Hospital’s efforts of working towards a standalone National Heart Centre in the future and supports it.

The government continues to put in efforts to create more employment opportunities for Papua New Guineans through various policies and plans, including capturing it in the new Medium Term Development Plan (MTDP) 4. Minister for Labour and Employment, Kessy Sawang made mention of this during question time in parliament this morning when responding to questions from the Member for Nipa Kutubu on the matter of unemployment in the country. "I want to place on record that the Marape- Rosso Government is aware of the challenging times as we deal with employment and in the recent MTDP 4, the government has achievable plans to create jobs," said the minister. "My job is to come up with a strategy to support private sector to come up with employment opportunities." The minister plans on doing this through amending the country's labour laws and the minimum wage threshold, which is at K3.5. These will be done in alignment with the MTDP 4. Minister Sawang also said a correct data on the labour market in the country is lacking and her ministry will be looking into that as well, so to have a well informed data available to guide decisions on addressing unemployment going forward. She also said from other reliable data available, about 41, 000 jobs in the country have been taken up by foreigners, but she has assured that her ministry will ensure that 10, 000 of those jobs come back to Papua New Guineans.

The Minister for National Planning, Rainbo Paita has given his assurance to parliament that he will be working on putting out a full and detailed report on how the development budget has been implemented so far for transparency purposes and to inform the country how funding has been used so far. Minister Paita when responding to questions from the Governor for Southern Highlands, William Powi, said the revised development budget figure for 2023 is K6. 72million and the report will contain details of projects and funding at different levels, sector by sector, district by district and province by province. "I assure I will table a very detailed report to come on the back of MTDP 4 and the government setting up a national monitoring aunthority," said the minister. The minister also made mention that implementation of projects has always been a challenge as per the report from the last Medium Term Development Plan (MTDP) 3, which was something that has been taken into consideration in this latest MTDP 4. Meanwhile, Governor Powi said the tabling of a report on development is vital because the leaders and the people have the right to know how the funding has been used, in which sectors and whether some of these projects have already reached completion and how are they impacting the communities. The governor suggested that the minister look at putting out the report quarterly or every six months in a year.

The fuel saga has gone to the point where the Minister for Petroleum and Energy, Kerenga Kua, declared an emergency on fuel starting today for the whole country. The minister made the declaration of emergency under Section 136 (1) of the National Emergency Act 2021 and Section 4 of the Essential Services Act 2002, in relation to the supply of fuel and petroleum products and the provision of foreign currency. Under this emergency, the plan of action now will be a roundtable conference between the state and the parties involved to take place on Wednesday 02nd August onwards to find possible means to resolve this matter once and for all. Under the plan of action, the minister for a month will be chairing roundtable conferences with the parties involved; Puma Energy and the Bank of Papua New Guinea (BPNG), to look into the allegations of fraudulent activities by the fuel distributor, get responses from parties involved, and ultimately come up with a possible solution to the whole fuel situation in the country. All parties involved are urged to cooperate and reach a solution going forward in this prolong fuel crisis. Meanwhile, during the 30 days emergency period any party who fails to comply with direction, prohibition, or requisition under this Act, will be guilty against this Act and will be liable for a penalty of not more than K500, 000 of a body corporate, or not more than K100, 000 and imprisonment of not more than six months for a natural person. The fuel emergency starts today and will go on for a month; however, the declaration of emergency can be extended, if necessary. Meanwhile, PNG Hausbung is expecting a response from the Managing Director and Chairman of Puma Energy PNG Limited later this evening, on the current fuel situation.

The youths from West Fergusson Local Level Government (LLG) in the Milne Bay province have opted to turn away from criminal activities including sea piracy, and work towards making their lives and their communities better. The youths through their Youth Council of West Fergusson LLG in the in Esa'ala District, want to live a positive life and are willing to work with their local government through youth programs to develop their community for positive development and livelihood for their families. As a result, a Youth Forum was convened on the 27th to the 28th of July in Makamuku village of West Fergusson with the theme “Empowering Youths for a Meaningful Living.” During that time the National Youth Development Authority (NYDA) was invited to carry out awareness on the importance of youth council and opportunities that come with it and how the youths can be engaged and empowered to contribute positively to development, by working in close consultation with their local Youth Council and LLG Administration. The youth forum was witnessed by Sectoral Heads and Technical Officers from Milne Bay Provincial Administration, Esa'ala District Administration and Church partners. These key stakeholders in youth development shared development pathways to assist youths to actively involve themselves in meaningful programs. The efforts towards this significant event would not have been possible without the support rendered by the Office of the Governor of Milne Bay, the Provincial Administration and the Division of Community Development, Esa'ala District Administration, West Ferguson LLG, the people of Esa'ala and most importantly, the Esa'ala District Youth Council and West Fergusson Local Youth Council.

The Independent Consumer and Competitions Commission (ICCC) has put forth its views and suggestions for the relevant parties involved in the fuel saga to consider, including isolating the financial regulatory compliance issues, so to ensure that national fuel security is not compromised going forward. ICCC Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr. Paulus Ain, said considering the due processes and regulatory compliance requirements relating to foreign exchange issues, the ICCC is, therefore, suggesting that the Bank of Papua New Guinea (BPNG), BSP Financial Group Limited (BSP), and Puma Energy PNG Limited (PUMA) isolate financial regulatory compliance issues from the fuel supply. “Regulatory compliance issues must not be used as an excuse to disrupt the supply of fuel in the country,” Commissioner Ain said. “BPNG and BSP should take the matter to court, whilst providing Puma Energy with its foreign currency needs and allowing it access to banking services. This is necessary to enable Puma to continue supplying fuel in the country.” He said it is unfortunate that fuel supply continues to be disrupted because of financial regulatory compliance issues. The Commissioner added that the ICCC as the competition authority, is also open to explore the possibility of ensuring competitors share key infrastructures to ensure fuel, in particular jet fuel is made available during such critical times. Fuel suppliers are urged to come forward to the ICCC to share their views on this proposed alternative. Also, the ICCC is exploring the possibility of having other importers to sell fuel to Puma Energy in PNG Kina, to ensure reliable supplies to customers. The ICCC will hold further dialogues with relevant stakeholders to see if this option is viable. Mr. Ain said Puma Energy’s monopoly position in the Jet A1 market is now having a detrimental impact on consumers. Therefore, other regulatory bodies should consider relaxing necessary statutory requirements to allow other suppliers to independently import Jet A1, rather than solely depending on Puma Energy to meet the country’s Jet A1 requirements.

The National Superannuation Fund Limited (Nasfund) will be carrying out investment talks and promote superannuation awareness for the people of Bougainville over a period of time after the signing of a partnership agreement with the Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) to make it happen. Under this three-year collaborative initiative, Nasfund and the ABG through its mandated commercial arm, the Bougainville Public Investment Corporation Limited (BPICL) will administer and drive all programs between the two parties. Nasfund’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Rajeev Sharma said the Fund is committed to working closely with the ABG to identify and develop investment opportunities and to empower locals to be financially secure through superannuation savings. ‘’Nasfund recognizes the uncharted paths in Economic Development, Business, and Socio-economic impact inherent in the immense potential of Bougainville and its people. We also recognize the need for collaboration and partnership and the effort required to leverage each other’s strengths to bring tangible and sustainable change that is good for the people of Bougainville and the members of Nasfund. We are also pleased that through this partnership, BPICL will assist us to drive awareness on financial security and savings throughout the Autonomous Region as well as benefit locals in the region to participate in financial literacy training, and savings programs allowing those involved in small economic projects and SMEs to save for their tomorrow.’’ Vice President and Minister for Commerce, Trade and Economic Development in the ABG, Patrick Nisira in counter-signing the agreement, stated that Nasfund is an important strategic partner with the expertise and financial resources to invest in the strategic productive assets of the Region. ‘’The Toroama/Nisira Government will support this partnership between Nasfund and BPICL to grow the economy of Bougainville. We have opportunities in Property Investment, Hotels and Resorts, Infrastructure, Land development, and investment in Financial Services, apart from our minerals and agriculture. We believe this MoU is the start of greater things to come for the people of Bougainville and Papua New Guinea.’’ Nisira said this agreement follows on from strategic partnerships with other institutions in the Insurance and Medical Service industries that were established earlier during the week. In closing, CEO Sharma thanked him and reiterated that as a Fund, Nasfund remains committed to building the country’s economy as well as empowering its members throughout Papua New Guinea and Bougainville and this partnership agreement signifies their ongoing efforts in this space. The Autonomous Region of Bougainville is the second after Morobe province to partner with Nasfund in this area.

The France Government through the European Union (EU) is supporting the efforts to protecting and conserving the world’s environment, which was the reason behind the France backing of the Managalas Conservation Project in the Northern Province. Speaking during the presentation of the Managalas Conservation project, France President Emmanuel Macron, emphasized on the importance of protecting the environment, particularly the tropical rain forests, which Papua New Guinea (PNG) is classified as having the third largest in the world. In order to protect and conserve the forests, President Macron said that there must be newer strategies in place to ensure that efforts to mitigate climate change, protect biodiversity, and development are done in a manner that does not deprive the people of the benefits from all these three elements. “That is why we built few weeks ago in Paris the Paris Pact for People and Planet,” the president announced. “We are creating a new consensus to make this story possible, and one of the key elements of this strategy is about forests. It’s for a very simple reason, forest is one of the solutions for carbon capture because rainforests are one of the huge places of carbon storage,” said the president. Secondly, he said forests are rich in biodiversity and 90% of the ecosystem in the world, and forests are where indigenous people live. It is for these reasons that he said the Managalas Conservation project is the right direction the local people are taking to protect their way of life for their future generation. “The Managalas project is a platform which will protect your forest, which will allow you to transform your economy by having a sustainable use of your forest in creating more values,” President Macron further stated. “We will mobilize our money and we will be part of it through Expertise France, we will have as well bilateral funding, we have a lot of philanthropist joining the club and the objective is to finalize a country strategy by end of this year, based on your experience because you’ve lived in this forest for centuries, millennia.” Meanwhile, Prime Minister James Marape in his closing remarks at the end of bilateral talks on Friday with the France President, said that this support is a reflection of France and EU commitment to protecting biodiversity in the country. The conservation project gets its main support from the EU and the EU has pledged K100million to support the project. President Macron was thanked for the support as well because France happens to be the biggest contributor to the EU and the projects and programs it runs and supports.