A delegation led by Minister for Petroleum Kerenga Kua is in Singapore to discuss the Papua LNG agreement, Papua New Guinea’s Kumul Consolidated Holdings announces its profits for the first half of 2019, and the United Nations Development Program Pacific Office opens the first Accelerator Lab in the region. Your weekly digest of business news.

Papua New Guinea has sent a delegation led by Minister for Petroleum Kerenga Kua to Singapore to renegotiate the US$13 billion Papua LNG agreement. ‘Success in the discussions could lead to early progress of the project. By the same token, failure could have very serious ramifications,’ said Kua. Papua LNG is a joint venture between Total, ExxonMobil and Oil Search Ltd. It has been reported that the project could double PNG’s exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG). (Reuters)

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The state-owned company Kumul Consolidated Holdings has revealed that its profits for the first half of 2019 were K169.7 million. The results were ‘driven by investment performance from marketable securities and increased operating efficiencies’.  (Post Courier)

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The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Pacific Office has launched the first Accelerator Lab for the Pacific region. It will be one of 60 labs worldwide that seek to invest in, and produce, new approaches and solutions to help with current development challenges. UNDP Pacific Office in Fiji Innovation Specialist, Johannes Schunter, said: ‘One of the first tasks of the Lab will be to identify which frontier development challenges we need to focus on. These include climate change and climate migration, coastal zone and oceans management, waste management, as well as digitisation of government and the economy.’ (Pacific Office)

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Loi Bakani, Bank of PNG’s Governor, has released the March 2019 Quarterly Economic Bulletin (QEB). According to the document, PNG’s total tax revenue for the March quarter 2019 was slightly over K2 million, 5.8 per cent higher than last year’s corresponding period. The balance of payments recorded a deficit of K508 million in the March quarter of this year, compared to a deficit of K177 million in the same quarter of 2018. (Bank of PNG)

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A new concept developed by the Department of Agriculture and Livestock (DAL) could boost PNG agriculture through air freight services to export produce to ‘world markets’. The Acting Secretary for Agriculture and Livestock, Daniel Kombuk, reportedly said that DAL is planning to submit the plan to the government or National Executive Council (NEC) for implementation. ‘Most of the population depends on agriculture for their survival and 96 per cent land is customary owned so the agriculture in aviation concept is a positive way forward that will put money into the pockets of the farmers and enhance agriculture productivity,’ he said. (Post-Courier)

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Mobil Oil Niugini in partnership with Marra International PNG Ltd has opened the ‘first speedy site service station’ in 7-Mile, Port Moresby.  The ‘speedy station’ is a new concept, with fuel storage tanks above ground level that are easy to set up (four to six months) and relocate.

A second ‘speedy station’ will open in Lae and there are plans to expand this concept to 20 locations around the country to help meet the growing demand for petrol. (The National)

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AirNiugini has adjusted its Cairns-Port Moresby schedule and now offers a same-day return trip to Port Moresby from Cairns on Fridays. The company’s Managing Director, Alan Milne, said: ‘Air Niugini has adjusted its Cairns-Port Moresby schedule to give business travellers from North Queensland the opportunity to make a same-day return trip to Port Moresby from Cairns on Fridays, saving them the time and expense of overnighting in Port Moresby.’ (The National)

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East New Britain Province cocoa farmers are witnessing a ‘slow resurgence’ of cocoa planting. A rehabilitation plan from the World Bank and the European Union has helped farmers find solutions to deal with the cocoa pod borer parasite, which decimated production in the province. Production, which fell from 22,000 tons in 2008 to under 4,000 tons in 2012, is still recuperating. (EMTV)

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Leslie Wunger, Acting General-Secretary at the Oil Palm Industry Corporation (OPIC), has said that the OPIC Act is now underway. According to Wunger, the ‘oil palm industry is now the best performing industry and is the biggest export earner for the country in terms of commodity and agriculture produce.’ (The National)

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Photograph of the week

Leaders at the Pacific Island Forum. Credit: RNZ

Eighteen Pacific leaders, including PNG’s Prime Minister James Marape, met last week during the Pacific Island Forum. The leaders discussed climate change and tried to set common targets in the region to try to limit global warming to below 1.5 degrees Celsius and implement a zero emissions strategy by 2050.

After a 12-hour meeting, the leaders agreed to a communique and separate statements on climate change. The main statement was from the small island states, including Vanuatu and Tuvalu, declaring that there is a climate crisis and asking for the replenishment of the Green Climate Fund. (RNZ).