Power workers give management another week to respond to pay claims, the People’s Micro Bank to get a full banking licence, Sime Darby withdraws from takeover talks with NBPOL. Your weekly digest of the latest business news.

The President of the PNG Energy Workers Union, Edward Gisa, says staff of PNG Power Limited have agreed to give their management a week to respond to their grievances over pay.

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Commerce Minister Richard Maru expects the People’s Micro Bank to become a fully fledged commercial bank in 2016. He said it’s part of the plan to bring banking services to the two million Papua New Guineans who don’t use banks. Chief executive Anthony Dela Cruz says the bank is currently testing EFTPOS and ATM services.

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The Institute of National Affairs’ Paul Barker

Malaysian multinational Sime Darby has opted not to buy a 48.9% stake in New Britain Palm Oil Ltd. Sime Darby gave no reason for its withdrawal. Analysts say Singapore’s Wilmar International Ltd and Malaysia’s Felda Global Ventures Holdings remain as potential buyers.

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Economist and Director of the Institute of National Affairs, Paul Barker, says next year’s GDP figure of 21% is ‘a distraction’. Writing on his blog, he says a large portion of the revenue flows from the LNG plant ‘goes straight back out to shareholders/financiers in initial years, and little revenue will come till late this decade. ‘Economic and employment opportunities will come from a broad range of activities, if government helps provide suitable conditions for them to survive and thrive and for new innovation to take off.’

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PNG Cocoa Board manager Wesley Kilang reports a slight drop in the number of cocoa pod boarer cases in the Madang and East New Britain provinces.

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Papua New Guinea and India will discuss how India can invest more in PNG’s resources sector, Prime Minister, Peter O’Neill, said as he welcomed India’s new High Commissioner to PNG, Madhava Chandra.

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The Bank of South Pacific has increased the maximum number of shares its shareholders can sell back to the bank from 1,000 to 5,000 per shareholder.

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Dame Meg Taylor

Fiji says it respects the Pacific Island Forum‘s decision to appoint Papua New Guinea’s Dame Meg Taylor as its secretary-general, after reports the Fiji government was unhappy with her appointment.

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Newcrest Mining managing director Sandeep Biswas insists his new company-wide improvement plan, known as ‘edge’ will not ‘burn the furniture’ at the company, despite demanding a renewed focus on cost reduction.

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Prime Minister Peter O’Neill has welcomed the commitment of the French company, Total, to advancing the Elk-Antelope Liquefied Natural Gas project in Papua New Guinea.

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Swiss miner Glencore is laying the groundwork for a potential merger with Rio Tinto, which would create the world’s largest mining company, worth about US$160 billion. Bloomberg reports Glencore has approached Aluminum Corp of China (Chinalco), which owns 9.8% of Rio, to guage its potential support for a change in control. Glencore says it cannot make a bid under the UK takeover code, after the Rio Tinto board unanimously rejected an approach in July.

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An election will be held in Solomon Islands on November 19. The Chief Electoral Officer, Polycarp Haununu, says a new Biometric Voter Registration Process successfully removed 160,000 fraudulent, incorrect or duplicate registrations.

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The government of Nauru has won a court case against the US-based funds management company Firebird, which last week had the country’s bank accounts frozen pending a garnishing order. But it will have to wait another week before it has any chance of accessing the money in its frozen bank accounts.

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Gold miner St Barbara has confirmed Australian Federal Police are investigating a report it paid benefits to a Solomon Islands politician. The company says its internal processes picked up the matter and reported it voluntarily.

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Officials of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) have met with government officials from the United Arab Emirates in Dubai to discuss renewable energy projects. SPC Director-General Dr Colin Tukuitonga, says ‘Arab donors are increasingly becoming central proponents of South–South co-operation’.

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