Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister has announced a US$13 million airport upgrade in Mendi and Moody’s has changed the country’s issuer ratings from negative to stable. Your weekly digest of the latest business news.

PNG’s Prime Minister Peter O’Neill has announced a US$13 million airport upgrade in Mendi. The new airport facility will include an upgrade to its runway and will be funded ‘under a memorandum of understanding that PNG signed with China’ in 2018. (RNZ)

***

Pacific Community’s Dr Colin Tukuitonga reportedly said that the region’s tuna fisheries are ‘on track’ for a US$1 billion return in the ‘not too distant future’. (LOOP)

***

Moody’s has changed PNG’s issuer ratings from negative to stable and affirmed its B2 rating. (Moody’s)

***

Papuan vanilla could continue to be the second most produced and consumed in the world if efforts are made to educate farmers on the importance of quality harvesting and putting an end to its contraband to Indonesia (The National).

***

Pacific countries representatives, including Papua New Guinea, Nauru and Cook Islands, will be discussing the future of seabed mining in the region this week, reports RNZ.

Although some ‘exploratory projects’ have commenced, the Pacific countries need to ensure they meet all International Seabed Authority’s regulations before exploiting minerals in the sea floor.

***

Treasurer Charles Abel said the government is investing K3.3 billion (US$1 billion) into the Baiyer-Madang Highway.

Treasury is working on the revised loan agreement for the Pacific Marine Industrial Zone (PMIZ) in Madang. ‘We want to link PMIZ to the Baiyer-Madang Highway, which the India Exim Bank is helping us to link, so that exports come down into Madang and goods and services can go up into the Highlands.

‘We have good times for PNG as long as we keep investing into infrastructure, telecommunications, education, health and creating small-to-medium enterprises for our people,’ said Abel. (The National)

***

Papua New Guinea’s Defence Force has commissioned the first Guardian-class patrol boat. This will be the first Guardian-class patrol boat granted by the Australian Government to 12 Pacific Island countries and Timor-Leste under the Pacific Maritime Security Program. (Naval Technology)

***

The Oakland Institute report ‘The Great Timber Heist Continued‘ has exposed ‘grand scale tax evasion by logging companies operating in Papua New Guinea’. (RNZ)

***

Governor William Powi has presented the 2019 Southern Highlands provincial government budget to Treasury Minister Charles Abel. The provincial government budget of K381.95 million consists of K204.11 million of national government grants and K179.74 million of internal revenue. (Post Courier)

***

A new report by Fitch Solutions says that ‘Papua New Guinea is on track to consolidate its fiscal position’. It forecast the ‘fiscal deficit to narrow to 2.3% in 2019 (slightly wider than the government’s 2.1% projection), from 2.5% in 2018.’ (Fitch Solutions)

During his first visit to Papua New Guinea, Mark Bristow, the new president and CEO of Barrick Gold Corporation, reportedly said that ‘the global mining group is committed to strengthening the Company’s partnership with the government and local communities, which has enabled the Porgera gold mine to deliver substantial benefits to PNG for almost 30 years.’ (Post Courier)

***