Pacific Marine Industrial Zone construction to start this month, personnel salary overruns costing PNG millions, and Newcrest Mining delivers profit. Your weekly digest of the latest business news.

PNG Prime Minister Peter O’Neill will officially launch the construction phase of the Pacific Marine Industrial Zone in Madang on November 23. Trade Minister Richard Maru says a supplementary loan agreement has been signed with the China Exim Bank, while China Shenyang International will build the zone. Oil Search will provide power and Water PNG will provide water to the zone.

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Overruns in personnel emoluments [payments] are costing the country between K200 million and K300 million annually, says National Planning and Monitoring Minister Charles Abel. He blames overspending by agency heads, adding there are many ghost names on the government payroll system, the Post Courier newspaper reported.

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Newcrest Mining’s Lihir gold mine. Credit: Newcrest Mining.

Newcrest Mining has posted a A$546 million (K1166 million) profit for the financial year to June 2015, after the previous year’s $2.2 billion loss. But it will not pay a dividend, instead concentrating on debt reduction, according to Chairman, Peter Hay.

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Water PNG has paid a dividend payment totalling to K5.6 million to Kumul Consolidated Holdings.

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The Acting Managing Director of the Mineral Resource Development Company, Clifford Kasi, says all trade stores and shops in the township of Tabubil may close down in the next two to three weeks because of the drought, the Post Courier newspaper reports.

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Bank of South Pacific (BSP) has officially acquired Westpac’s operations in Solomon Islands. The completion of the deal between the companies took place on October 30 after all of the statutory, regulatory and third party approvals had been obtained in Solomon Islands.

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Pacific tuna. Credit: SPC

Countries in the Pacific have called on global fishing nations to help them protect one of the world’s few remaining unmanaged tuna stocks. A meeting last month of Pacific islands nations and Australia called for a 40% cut to the catch of southern albacore tuna.

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Australian Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has visited Papua New Guinea and sat down with PM Peter O’Neill to discuss the impact of climate change on countries in the Pacific region.

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Nambawan Super Ltd (NSL) plans to expand its number of branches from 17 to 30 or more, with the help of a strategic partner, to increase a distribution reach. According to The National newspaper, this will enable NSL to concentrate on managing service outcomes without the complexity and cost of managing idle times at branches, caused by frequent telecommunications link downtimes, electricity downtimes and other associated challenges.

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The Porgera gold mine in Enga province. Credit: Barrick Gold Corp.

Barrick Gold Corp has reported a net loss of US$264 million (K750 million) for the third quarter and an adjusted net earnings of US$131 million (K372 million). In its latest quarterly report, the company stated that gold production in the third quarter was in line with expectations at 1.66 million ounces.

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Employment in Papua New Guinea’s private sector increased in the second quarter of 2015 by 0.2% compared to the first quarter, according to the Bank of Papua New Guinea. Despite the improved result, total employment was 1.1% lower, the report added.

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And finally… Port Moresby will host soccer’s OFC Nations Cup in 2016, in what will be a huge year for the sport in the country. PNG has already been named as the host of the 2016 Women’s U20 World Cup. The OFC Nations Cup, which acts as Stage 2 of the region’s FIFA World Cup qualifiers, is scheduled for May 28 to June 11.