PNG Teachers reject sale of Credit Corporation and other news in brief.

The Teachers Savings and Loan Society Ltd (TISA), the third largest shareholder of finance company Credit Corporation Ltd, has come out against a buyout offer by BSP. TISA owns 15.3% of CreditCorp; Nasfund and Nambawan Super Ltd have 18.7% and 15.8% respectively. TISA board chairman Gabriel Tai said the transaction was not in the best interest of the shareholders. Credit Corporation shareholders are due to vote on the proposed sale soon.

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Indonesia and PNG have signed an action plan to implement a comprehensive partnership on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting on Monday. It follows PNG Prime Minister Peter O’Neill’s visit to Jakarta in July.

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PNG Planning and Monitoring Minister Charles Abel says a new process will be put in place to oversee how money given for development and infrastructure projects from the PNG LNG project will be spent. Abel has admitted than K500 million for LNG project areas has been misappropriated and abused.

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Abel has also announced  40 thousand affordable houses will be built across the country from next year. Some US$52.8 million will be made available from the 2014 budget and some of the money will go towards a land mobilisation process, which will include customary land mobilisation reform.

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Guadalcanal Eco-Tourism Development Services in Solomon Islands reports 40 new local operators have begun work on eco-tourism activities in the last year. Managing Director Eddison Saen says potential businesspeople are encouraged to save US$5,000 for work such as building eco-lodges and bush tracking.

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New Australian PM, Tony Abbott, has moved to repair the damage caused by the asylum-seeker debate, admitting he wil now “take full advantage” of Labor’s PNG solution. During the election campaign, the now Foreign Minister Julie Bishop claimed Australia had surrendered control of ‘the entire PNG aid budget’ to gain PNG’s cooperation. PM O‘Neill described Bishop’s comments as ‘nonsense’, adding: ‘Try and be respectful when we start talking about these issues.’

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Exxon Mobil has secured an additional A$1.5 billion in debt financing for the PNG LNG project. The new loan will help cover overruns at the development, after costs climbed to A$19 billion from A$15.7 billion late last year.

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Tonga’s new undersea cable link has paved the way for a new international call centre business. With a unique time zone, and well-educated English speaking workers, it hopes to carve out a major new export sector, as Radio Australia reports.

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