Leahy predicts Trump election bad for exporters, ban on beche-de-mer to be lifted and financing boost for SMEs. Your weekly digest of the latest business news.

The election of Donald Trump as US President will be bad for exporters, according to John Leahy, the President of the PNG Chamber of Commerce and Industry. In a statement reported by the Post-Courier, Leahy said Trump’s election was part of a broader move to isolationism and protectionism. ‘PNG will be insulated from this to some extent because of opportunities opening up in the region, particularly China, due to the Belt and Road initiative of the current Chinese Government,’ he said, adding PNG was further insulated, to some extent, because gold prices would go up in the short term due to the uncertainty arising from the vagueness of some of Mr Trump’s policies.

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Beche de mer. Credit: Far Away Food

The harvesting of beche-de-mer (sea cucumber) will resume in January 2017 after a six-year ban, Fisheries Minister, Mao Zeming reportedly said. The National Fisheries Authority board made the decision to lift the ban after it was satisfied from results of a number of surveys that the stock has recovered sufficiently.

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The government is setting up a Credit Guarantee Corporation (CGC) to address barriers to access finance for start up businesses. The CGC was first developed in Malaysia in 2013, PNG Loop reports.

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The government will receive more than K440 million in concessional loans from international funding agencies. Total grants from development partners are estimated at K968.1 million, or 7.2 per cent of total expenditure, with the largest share, K721.1 million, coming from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs And Trade.

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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says commodity prices are likely to remain low for a long time. The IMF’s commodity price index fell 3 per cent over the September quarter, reflecting decreases in energy and non-energy prices.

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Qantas has reportedly called on  Australia’s International Air Services Commission to (IASC) to approve, in full, its proposed code- sharing arrangements with Air Niugini on Australia–PNG routes. The IASC has said in a draft decision the two carriers would be able to code-share on the Sydney–Port Moresby route (operated by Air Niugini) and Brisbane–Port Moresby route (operated by both Qantas and Air Niugini), but not the Cairns–Port Moresby route operated only by Air Niugini.

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PNG Air has reportedly announced it will acquire five more ATR 72-600 aircraft from French manufacturer ATR, the first of this batch to be delivered in 2019.

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DAC;’s Michaella Otto. Credit: The National

Demand for commercial properties in Port Moresby is high, according to DAC Real Estate property manager Michaella Otto. She told The National that the strong demand is due mainly to the increase in small businesses needing somewhere to operate from.

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The Coffee Industry Corporation has signed a K5 million agreement aimed at improving harvests in Chimbu. The deal was signed by the CIC’s Productive Partnerships in Agriculture Project (PPAP) with partners CDA Gumini (K2.9 million) and Tribal Aromas Ltd (K2.1 million) in Kundiawa. The partners, who represent 1700 farmers, will improve coffee gardens, set up nurseries and improve post-harvest practices.

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Cocoa growers in Milne Bay will benefit from a freight subsidy project, according to The National. The Department of Agriculture and Livestock is reportedly allocating K50,000 to the project to alleviate freight costs for farmers in the remote and isolated areas of Milne Bay.

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Accident-free SP Brewery in Lae.

SP Brewery reports it has celebrated another milestone: 365 days without an accident at its Lae Brewery in Morobe Province.