O’Neill wants PNG to take advantage of global business opportunities, Australia provides additional development funds, and Air Niugini outsources Lihir airport services. Your weekly digest of the latest business news.

Prime Ministers Peter O’Neill and David Cameron. Credit; BBC

Prime Minister Peter O’Neill has told the inaugural UK–PNG Investment Forum in London the country needs to ‘look north, east and west’, to take advantage of global capital and business, ‘which today knows no bounds’. O’Neill met British Prime Minister, David Cameron, both agreeing on the need for stronger engagement between the two countries.

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Australia will provide an additional A$8 million (K16.9 million) through the Asian Development Bank to support private sector development in PNG, taking its total financial support for the sector to A$32 million (K67.5 million).

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Air Niugini has outsourced its ticket sales and airport services at Lihir in New Ireland Province, and is preparing to contract out these services at Bulolo. CEO Simon Foo says Lae, Mt Hagen and Rabaul airports will not be affected .

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The Chairman of the PNG General Insurance Council, Paul Affleck, says the industry is increasingly concerned about the lack of progress in upgrading the national fire service and lack of compliance and policing of the Building Board’s standards, more fires ‘in Lae, Mt Hagen, Goroka, Kokopo and now Port Moresby’.

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The Methane Spirit

The 100th cargo of liquefied natural gas from the PNG LNG Project will be exported this weekend aboard the Methane Spirit. More than seven million tonnes of LNG have been exported since the PNG LNG Project began production last year.

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Meanwhile, Japan may increase its LNG intake from PNG. An advisor for Tokyo Electric Power Company has told the Post-Courier there is increasing pressure from the 10-member Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan to increase LNG from PNG. Japan, the world’s biggest LNG buyer, earlier said it was no longer as interested in fostering LNG development from the US, Russia and East Africa, as it had been a year ago.

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Oil Search may sell down part of its stake in the P’nyang gas field to Santos, which will give Oil Search a more lucrative role in a planned expansion of the $US19 billion (K51.9 billion) PNG LNG venture. Oil Search owns a 38.5% stake in P’nyang.

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Nautilus Minerals Inc and the PNG Government have come to an agreement for a six-month extension of the option exercise date regarding the Canadian mining company’s interest in the Solwara 1 deep-sea project offshore PNG.

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Digicel PNG as entered into a new partnership with US-based O3b Networks, which CEO, Maurice McCarthy, says will provide ‘next generation’ satellite-based internet services to the rural areas which previously relied on expensive fibre infrastructure or expensive satellite connectivity.

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The People’s Microbank’s Anthony Dela Cruz

A massive surge in cost of construction materials and labour has delayed the establishment of additional branches of the People’s Micro Bank Ltd, CEO Anthony Dela Cruz says.

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Two public servants have been awarded scholarships to study management abroad in 2016. Martha Wari from the Labour Department will study Business Management in Australia. Celine Vavetaovi from the Education Department will go to the US to attain a Masters in Business Management. The scholarships are funded by Oshowe Ventures and PNG Ltd.

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New York-listed InterOil is reported to be considering an Australian Securities Exchange listing, according to The Australian newspaper. Meanwhile the company has announced it has started drilling the Triceratops-3 appraisal well and at Wahoo in the Gulf Province.

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The government needs to stop entertaining the cash handout mentality and adopt the policy of providing the basic tools, seeds, infrastructure and access to food-related markets so farmers can sell their products, according to James Leahy, the President of the Western Highlands Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

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The Secretariat of the Pacific Community says a strong El Nino event this year is likely to push tuna fisheries towards the central Pacific and away from fishing grounds of PNG, Solomon Islands and Palau.

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The countries that make up the Parties to the Nauru Agreement will start charging more for the use of Fish Aggregating Devices in a trial to begin next year. Tuvalu’s fisheries Minister Pita Elisala says his nation is not selling fishing days to distant water fishing countries that have blocked initiatives to develop Tuvalu’s domestic fishery.

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Solomon Airlines has begun a weekly direct Sydney-Honiara flight to boost tourism.

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Palau burns illegal Vietnamese fishing boats. Credit: National Geographic

And finally, Palau has burnt foreign vessels caught illegally fishing in their waters. National Geographic reports a cluster of Vietnamese fishing boats recently. The ships’ captains remain incarcerated in Palau while the 77 crew members are being sent home on two remaining fishing boats, with enough food and fuel to make it back to Vietnam.