Nambawan Super profit of K406 million, Bank South Pacific reports net profit of K1.99 billion, government agencies locked out of offices for allegedly non-payment of rents. Your weekly digest of the latest business news.

Nambawan’s Anthony Smare

Nambawan Super Chairman, Anthony Smare, has announced a contributors’ dividend of 8 per cent after declaring a net profit of K406 million for 2017. He attributed the result to the Fund’s diversified investment portfolio and strategic decision in 2012 to invest offshore. He said the fund’s net asset value had risen 73 per cent since 2012 to K2.7 billion.

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Bank South Pacific recorded a net profit of K1.99 billion in 2017, with an operating after-tax profit of K757 million, an increase of 17 per cent from 2016. CEO Robin Fleming said the increase came from the corporate sector and the bank’s other Pacific markets.

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Oro Province Governor, Gary Juffa

Oro Governor, Gary Juffa, wants illegal loggers to be prosecuted, saying that in one case, nearly K3 million worth of logs is in the process of being shipped out. Juffa has told EMTV that responsible agencies must act quickly if PNG’s forests are to be protected.

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A research study into the ‘paddy to plate’ food supply chain for rice begins later this month, headed by the National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) in partnership with Trukai Industries. It follows a severe decline in rice supply in 2015 from rice exporting nations in the Asia-Pacific region.

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MiBank has reportedly been given approval to market term life insurance under the banner of BIMA MiLife, a new insurance product. MiBank CEO Tony Westaway said MiBank has now joined with a new underwriter, Capital Life Insurance Company, and a new distributor, BIMA, to launch the product called BIMA MiLife.

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Canadian vanilla supplier Aust & Hachmann says much of the PNG vanilla bean ‘is smuggled through to Indonesian dealers who finance growers and collectors’. The supplier says this is ‘impeding PNG exporters from growing their market share for vanilla and also adding unnecessary costs and margins’. PNG was the second-largest grower at 200-250 metric tonnes in 2017. Madagascar produced between 1300 and 1600 metric tonnes.

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A partial betel nut ban is now in place in public places and around shopping malls and commercial areas of Boroka. Governor Powes Parkop says rubbish bins would be provided in the Boroka area to dispose of litter by the public. Boroka is the first part of Port Moresby to be targeted in an effort to make Port Moresby clean, he told The Post-Courier.

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Staff at the National Institute of Standards and Industrial Technology (NISIT) have been locked out of their offices, reports The Post Courier. The national government allegedly owes landlord, TST Properties, more than K10 million. NISIT services include development and dissemination of standards, accreditation of testing services, certification of products, and calibration services at all levels of trade. Meanwhile, Loop PNG is reporting the Kitpeng Building in Waigani, which houses the National Disaster Office, has also been closed, allegedly for outstanding rent debts.

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The coconut rhinoceros beetle, believed to have come from Asia. Credit: Wikipedia

The Solomon Islands economy is facing a bleak future, reports the ABC, because the coconut rhinoceros beetle is marching across its fertile plains, killing their ‘tree of life’ by the millions. Guadalcanal Plains Palm Oil General Manager, Craig Gibsone, says if the beetle isn’t controlled, all the company’s palm oil and copra could be lost. Exports of palm oil and copra are worth at least $50 million (K20.7 million) a year.

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And finally, the installation of a time and access system for the Lands Department has exposed five ghost names, according to Minister Justin Tkatchenko. He said that meant that someone had been receiving the pay of five people who did not actually exist on the department’s payroll. The K400,000 system will also be installed in the department’s regional offices.

Photograph of the week

Prime Minister Peter O’Neill consoles a villager from Yalanda, who lost her home and who is now living in a makeshift care centre at Kekero village in Hela Province. Credit: Oil Search. Got a great photo to share? Email editor@businessadvantageinternation.com