Bougainville’s Autonomous Government moves closer to issuing mining licences, tuna stocks down to 16% of original size and foreign shareholding of NNBPOL won’t exceed 49%. Your weekly digest of the latest business news.

A temporary mining bill transferring powers from the PNG national government to the Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) has been passed, with a complete mining law expected by early next year. The new regime  means that any future mining licence on Bougainville, including exploration, would only be granted under this law and by the ABG.

The ABG’s John Momis. Credit: New Dawn

The new law affects Bougainville Copper Ltd ‘s (BCL’s) seven exploration licences and its special mining lease over the disused Panguna mine, although the company retains first right of refusal on negotiations to operate the mine. A full analysis will be published in next week’s PNG Business Update.

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New figures show stocks of bigeye tuna have now been reduced to less than 20% of the original population, according to the Secretariat of the Pacific Community. Dr John Hampton says while bigeye tuna is only 6% of the total regional tuna catch, it represents about 12% of the value of the catch, which was about US$6.2 billion overall in 2013. The new figures have renewed calls for a complete ban on purse seine trawling by the European Union, Japan, Kore, Taiwan and the United States.

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Trade Minister Richard Maru says the government will not allow a foreign company to acquire more than 49 percent shares in New Britain Palm Oil  (NBPOL). Last week, NBPOL’s major shareholder Kulim Malaysia Berhard said it had selected Sime Darby as its preferred bidder for Kulim’s stake of 48.97 per cent shareholding in NBPOL.

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Awal Telecommunications Corporation says it will set up its A-Tel mobile phone company ‘to do a massive rollout’, with senior executives visiting before the end of the year.

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New statistics from Budde Communications reveal the penetration of telecoms services in PNG. Budde’s July report shows fixed-line telephony penetration at 2%; fixed broadband at less than 1%; Mobile broadband 7%; Mobile SIM (population) 50%.

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Reviving PNG’s coconut industry depends on people taking ownership to rehabilitate their plantations, says Kokonas Indastri Koporesen (KIK) managing director Dr James Kaiulo. Scientists have told a meeting in Manila that people do not know how to take care of their coconuts. Kaiulo said about 300,000 families are engaged in coconut production in PNG.

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Meanwhile, a coconut virgin oil project has been launched in Rabaul, East New Britain. The ‘value-adding’ project will be managed by Rabaul Virgin Coconut Oil with startup capital of K100,000.

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A scientist from Papua New Guinea has become the first Pacific scientist to be awarded a prestigious global science award. Moses Laman of PNG’s Institute of Medical Research has received the award from The Third World Academy of Science.

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Papua New Guinea ranks 15^th in the Pacific for the price of fuel, according to the latest edition of the Pacific Fuel Price Monitor. American Samoa, Samoa and Fiji to have the lowest fuel costs in the region, while Wallis and Futuna, Cook Islands, Niue and Tuvalu have the highest. Prices in many Pacific countries are far cheaper than those in Australia and New Zealand.

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A new fish cannery is under construction and two more are in the pipeline. National Fisheries Authority acting Managing Director Philip Polon said these will add to the five already existing canneries in Wewak, Madang and Lae. The new fish cannery under construction is located at the Malahang industrial area in Lae, Morobe province.

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Indra CEO Mr. Malcolm Monteiro (left) and PNGASL Managing Director, Captain Ted Pakii. Credit: Australian High Commission

PNG Air Services Limited and Indra Australia signed a A$7.4 million (K16.6 m) contract to upgrade and modernise PNGASL’s Very High Frequency (VHF) radio communication systems.  The project will establish new remote VHF radio sites at Mount Dimodimo in Milne Bay, Mount Mission in Morobe, and Mount Otto in Eastern Highlands Province. Hybrid diesel power generators and solar power systems will also be established at the radio sites.

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The People’s Micro Bank will soon introduce electronic banking and mobile banking services. Chief Executive Officer Anthony Dela Cruz says the bank is investing more than K3 million to develop its electronic banking platform to serve three million customers over the next 10 years.

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Ramu NiCo’s annual forecast production for this year will not be affected following attack on its employees by locals recently. The Chinese-owned nickel mine in Madang, which has reopened after an attack by armed villagers, says it should still be able to meet its target of 22,000 tonnes of nickel this year.

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WCB Resources has been awarded a copper drilling contract through Quest Exploration Drilling, at its Misima Island site in Milne Bay Province. Cameron Switzer, President and CEO, says drilling could commence within the next four weeks.

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Pacific air dispute. Credit: Radio Australia

Tourism organisers say a dispute between the national airlines of Fiji and Solomon Islands is pushing up the cost of travel in the Pacific. The dispute between the two countries began when the Solomons’ Civil Aviation Authority refused a request for extra flights to Honiara.

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Finally, the American Secretary of State, John Kerry, briefly visited Solomon Islands this week. In Honiara, he attended wreath-laying ceremonies at the Guadalcanal American Memorial and Solomon Scouts and Coastwatchers Memorial to remember those who died in the Second World War.