PNG Ports secures ‘landmark transaction’ with BSP for Motukea Island facilities, impact of kina’s exchange rate over-valuation analysed, and Harmony Gold confirms Kili Teke copper-gold discovery. Your weekly digest of the latest business news.

Bank South Pacific (BSP) will finance the PNG Ports Corporation’s new facilities at at Motukea Island. CEO Robin Fleming described the K300 million deal as a ‘landmark transaction’. The new Port of Moresby will increase the storage and wharf capacity and allow greater container traffic to pass through Motukea, while opening up the existing wharf facilities in downtown Port Moresby to development.

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An analysis of the impact of the kina’s exchange rate over-valuation in PNG shows ‘the longer depreciation is postponed, the more rationing will slow down the economy, and the harder it will be for other export industries, such as tourism and agriculture, to expand’.

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South Africa’s Harmony Gold Mining Ltd has delivered a positive maiden mineral resource estimate for the Kili Teke copper-gold prospect in Hela Province. The mineral resource consists 128 million tonnes at 0.4% copper and 0.3g/t gold, according to the company.

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The National Development Bank’s Moses Liu

The National Development Bank is attempting to accommodate the financial stress faced by borrowers due to the drought, according to Managing Director, Moses Liu. He told Business Advantage PNG: ‘We are arranging to reschedule their loan repayments to assist them to repay the loans after three months of rainfall.’

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Inbound tourism to PNG is expected to grow by less than 2% a year between 2016 and 2019, according to the Pacific Asia Travel Association.  Arrivals growth in Fiji is projected to average 3.6%.

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Minister for Mining, Byron Chan, has outlined recent changes made to PNG’s Mining Act and the development of six new mining policies. Presenting at the 2015 PNG Mining and Petroleum Conference in Port Moresby, Chan said the changes addressed issues of governance, compliance, best practice and sustainability.

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Australia’s Crater Gold Ltd has raised AUD$1 million by placing 12.5 million shares to fund the continued development of the Crater Mountain – HGZ Project.

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Malaysia and Indonesia will invest US$5 million each in the initial operations of a new joint palm oil body, whose tasks will include stabilising prices and managing stock levels. The secretariat of the new Council of Palm Oil Producer Countries will be located in Jakarta and its membership will be extended to all oil palm cultivating countries, including PNG.

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The new Mt Hagen Airport. Credit: ADB.

A K70 million upgrade of Mount Hagen International Airport, has been opened, complete with a new Air Niugini Executive Club lounge. It’s one of 21 national airports being upgraded between now and 2018, with finance from the ADB. Prime Minister Peter O’Neill said international flights will soon include departures to Sentani (Jayapura) Airport in Indonesia.

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The Kumul Petroleum Academy has been launched to train PNG nationals for technical and skilled operational jobs in the oil and gas industry. It is located at Idubada near Port Moresby. The academy will be overseen by Kumul Petroleum Holdings and the South Pacific Employment Institute.

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The full extent of PNG’s energy resources is still unknown despite having had explorations for almost a century, according to Kim Bates, ExxonMobil’s Vice President for the Asia Pacific and Middle East. She told the PNG Mining and Petroleum conference in Port Moresby last week that PNG’s natural geography and environment continues to place constraint on many exploration companies.

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Construction companies Kitogara Ltd has launched the building of a K60 million plaza at Koki Bay outside Port Moresby. Located on reclaimed land, the first phase of the development consists of 20 shops.

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The National Fisheries Authority will undertake an economic value chain study of the tuna industry in Papua New Guinea, says Fisheries Minister Mao Zeming. The study will seek to identify opportunities for locals as well as revenue forgone versus benefits.

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Trukai Industries has signed an agreement with the Chingwam Rice Growers Co-operative Society in Lae to develop and buy high yield rice varieties that are resistant to drought and other adverse weather conditions, according to CEO, Greg Worthington-Eyre. The project will involve more than 5000 smallholder farmers and it is expected to create employment for over 10,000 households.

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Nautilus Minerals Inc Chairman Geoff Loudon says the company expects to take delivery of its production support vessel (PSV), which is being built by Fujian Mawei Shipbuilding Ltd in China, in December 2017 ahead of a planned start to production at the Solwara 1 project in the first quarter of 2018.

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The People’s Bank of China approved the launch of ANZ China’s free trade unit in Shanghai, allowing it to facilitate capital account transactions for corporate customers and interbank branches doing business via the Shanghai Free Trade Zone.