Bank South Pacific postpones its proposed listing on the ASX, Asian Development Bank Director predicts growth to rise in 2018, and K20 million to help fight coffee borer. Your weekly digest of the latest business news.

The board of Bank South Pacific has shelved an ASX listing in the near-term.  In a statement, the board said: ‘BSP has not ruled out undertaking a secondary listing on the Australian Securities Exchange (Potential Listing), but is not currently of the view that there will be a significant public offer of shares in conjunction with the potential listing’.

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Increased mining and agriculture output in PNG will prompt ‘a mild recovery’ in 2017, according to the Asian Development Bank. Growth is expected to be 2.5 per cent in 2017, rising to 2.8 per cent in 2018. The medium-term outlook for PNG remains positive due to foreign investments in the pipeline, according to ADB Pacific Director General, Xianbin Yao.

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Westpac’s Adrian Hughes

The PNG economy may be at the end of its economic downturn, according to Westpac PNG Managing Director, Adrian Hughes. He said he was optimistic things will improve over the next two years, ‘off the back of the investment associated with the Papua LNG project, which looks like it is progressing well’.

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The national government has approved K20 million towards the fight against the coffee berry borer, Agriculture Minister, Tommy Tomscoll has reportedly announced. The funds are K30 million short of the K50 million the minister had predicted would be needed on February 21 soon after the initial detection of the pest in Jiwaka Province.

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The PNG Chamber of Commerce and Industry President John Leahy has reportedly told a trade delegation from Guangzhou, China, that a number of PNG’s sectors could be advantaged by Chinese involvement. He pointed to the largely untapped potential of solar and geothermal energy sources.

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Coconut and cocoa plantations at the Markham Farm in Erap, Wampar, Huon Gulf which have been turned into a palm oil plantation is expected to begin production in 2020. Markham Farming Company General Manager Nache Seenivasan says the company has more than 6,000 land hectares of which 2000 hectares were planted with palm oil.

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A duck farming project in the Usino-Bundi district of Madang has received K2000 from the Ramu nickel and cobalt mine (Ramu NiCo) to help its establishment. Usino duck farm project manager Mathew Yakai said the project could control law and order issues through meaningful sustainable incomes. “A majority of our local people are struggling and barely surviving on the poor income earned in agriculture, particularly poorly-managed cocoa productions and betel nut,’ Yakai told The National. ‘Most youths are engaged in home brew and other social problems.’

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Kumul Consolidated Holdings has sought the Independent Consumer and Competition Commission’s clearance and authorisation regarding the acquisition of bmobile and PNG DataCo, which will lead to the creation of a single entity, Kumul Telikom Holdings. A decision is expected within 20 days.

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PNG Power Staff Savings and Loan Society  has recorded a profit of K1.6 million for 2016, the outgoing Chairman Chris Bais has announced. He said it was a 16 per cent increase from the net profit of K1.4 million in 2015. He said the society has a current asset base value of K38.2 million.

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Perth-based Geo-Pacific Resources is making a A$10 million takeover offer for its joint venture partner, Kula Gold, in the Woodlark Gold Project, says GeoPacific’s Managing Director Ron Heeks.

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Konekaru’s Morea Geita

Central Province landowner firm Konekaru Holdings (KHL) aims to invest more widely to generate revenue and more business opportunities. KHL has just signed a lease with Orica, the international explosives company, to establish a new factory outside of Port Moresby. KHL Chairman, Morea Geita, says the company will use the lease payments to invest in other business operations.

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More than 60 contractors have taken part in a series of workshops aimed at strengthening the capacity of the road construction industry in PNG last month. Secretary of the Department of Transport, Roy Mumu OBE, praised the support provided for contractors. Funding came from the Australian Government and was delivered through the Papua New Guinea–Australia Transport Sector Support Program.

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And finally, Tongan Prime Minister, Akilisi Pohiva, says a government task force investigating crimes against Chinese people in Tonga is trying to confirm reports about hitmen being hired by some Chinese businesses in the kingdom to harm their rivals. The regional newsagency, PacNews, quotes Chinese Ambassador Huang Huaguang saying: ‘Crimes against the Chinese community happened frequently in 2016 and some brutal cases remain unsolved’.