International court refuses to hear claim about government takeover of Ok Tedi mine, five percent aid cut to PNG and trial export of fresh vegetables to Fiji. Your weekly digest of the latest business news.

PNGSDP Chairman, Sir Mekere Morauta

The International Court for the Settlement of Investment Disputes has declined to hear PNG Sustainable Development Program’s claims against the Government of Papua New Guinea. PNGSDP was seeking restitution of the 63.4 per cent of Ok Tedi Mining Ltd that it says was ‘unlawfully’ expropriated by the Government in September 2013. PNGSDP Chairman, Sir Mekere Morauta, says the company is examining its options.

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Australia’s Abbott government has cut aid to PNG by five per cent in this week’s Budget. Funding for regional programs in the Pacific will be 10 percent lower in 2015-16, but aid to individual countries remains stable. Aid to Indonesia has been cut by 40%.

Overall, Australian aid has been cut by 20% to 0.22% of GDP. Australia has unveiled plans to open a foreign mission in Bougainville, as part of its 2015 Budget.

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Prime Minister Peter O’Neill with Indonesian President, Joko Widodo

Two memorandums of understanding were signed by Indonesia’s President, Joko Widodo and PNG Prime Minister, Peter O’Neill, during the president’s two-day visit to Port Moresby. The first MOU on transnational crime and the second on petroleum and energy arrangements. O’Neill said he looked forward to official discussions on ensuring peace in the neighbouring province of Papua.

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Innovative Agro Industry’s Ltd Chief Financial Officer Lior Crystal says the company will trial export up to 200 kilograms of tomatoes and lettuce to Fiji’s McDonalds in Nadi, Fiji. It’s the first time fresh vegetables have been exported from PNG. The company is growing large quantities of cucumber, tomatoes, capsicum, watermelons and lettuce.

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Taiwan’s Fong Chun Formosa Fishery (FCF) says it has delivered its first load of Marine Stewardship Council-certified skipjack tuna totalling 290 metric tons to Wewak, East Sepik Province for processing by South Seas Tuna Corporation (SSTC), an FCF subsidiary.

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Leaders at Wagan Village in Lae District, Morobe Province, have signed an MOU to develop a multi-million kina wharf to help cater for the fishing industry. Plans include a fish market, ice making machines and storage facilities for fishing vessels contracted to the factories in Lae. China Harbour Engineering Company will carry out a technical feasibility study.

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Westpac Pacific reports cash earnings were down A$6 million in the first half of the year, offsetting a strong rise in net interest income, after foreign exchange controls were introduced in PNG last June.

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Australian company SunRice, Trukai Industries’ major shareholder, reports the economic impacts from falling energy prices and foreign exchange controls in PNG may threaten its 2015 earnings. CEO Rob Gordon says the ‘currency crisis’ in PNG has created a slowdown in payments to SunRice for milled rice exports to Trukai, increasing the risk profile of its PNG operations.

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There’s more confirmation that PNG can grow commercial quality rice. Organisers of the Gabadi Hybrid Rice Project in Central Province say a second harvest has been successful, using hybrid rice from the Philippines. It takes four months to grow and harvest.

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Oil Search, Santos and Woodside have received ‘leading’ ratings for their sustainability reporting and disclosure practices, according to the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors annual review of sustainability disclosure.

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Swire Shipping will launch a new express service between North Asia, Papua New Guinea and Australia from July. It means a 16-day transit between Shanghai and Lae, and a ten-day transit between Townsville and Shanghai.

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PanAust directors are unanimously recommending a revised, higher takeover offer from its major shareholder, Guangdong Rising Assets Management. GRAM is now offering A$1.85 per share, after the board rejected an offer of A$1.71. PanAust owns the Frieda River gold and copper project in East Sepik Province.

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Spanish energy giant, Repsol, has formally taken over Canada’s Talisman Energy, owner of the Stanley gas project in Western Province.

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PNG’s Mineral Resources Authority says small scale or alluvial mining recorded K373.4 million in revenue from alluvial gold exports. PNG has between 70,000 and 80,000 active alluvial miners, mostly in remote areas of the country.

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Nautilus Minerals says it has recommenced its exploration initiatives in Solomon Islands this month.

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Tesla’s Elon Musk has announced new lithium-ion batteries for home and commercial use. Credit: Getty Images

And finally, NZ energy company, Vector, has teamed up with US carmaker, Tesla, to investigate providing large-scale lithium-ion batteries for commercial users to cope with peak demand that may vary between seasons. Vector chief executive Simon Mackenzie says: ‘We have to embrace this (technology) rather than hope it will go away.’ The biggest mistake, he says, would be overinvesting in traditional lines of infrastructure that could be obsolete in a few years.