Three years ago, ‘Airport Economist’ Tim Harcourt came to Papua New Guinea to see how it was coping after the global financial crisis. In this excerpt from his forthcoming book, Trading Places – The Airport Economist’s Guide to International Business, he reflects on what he found.
Don’t panic: agricultural markets will weather the global storm
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26 Jun 2013 by
Commodities prices have been sold off heavily over the past week on worries that the global economy will slow. What does this mean for Papua New Guinea’s agricultural producers?
People moves: Bemobile, Westpac, Cue Energy Resources, InterOil
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24 Apr 2013 by
Major changes at Bemobile as Vodafone steps in to take over, while Westpac MD and InterOil CEO announce departures.
Around the world: sorcery killings/ANZ CEO/Westpac in Asia/BHP
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12 Feb 2013 by Leave a Comment
Sorcery killing The killing of a young woman accused of witchcraft has brought PNG to the attention of the international media for the wrong reasons in the past week, with the United Nations and Amnesty International speaking out on the issue. Writing in The Australian (9 Feb) Rowan Callick compared the case to the widely-publicised […]
How will PNG’s and the Pacific’s economy fare in 2013?
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29 Jan 2013 by
Business Advantage PNG spoke with the region’s three most senior bankers to get their thoughts on the year ahead. ‘There will be some slowness in the year ahead based on global economic factors, but on the whole I’m reasonably positive,’ says ANZ’s CEO Pacific, Vishnu Mohan (pictured below). ‘I think the good news for the […]
Perspectives on Papua New Guinea
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1 May 2012 by
Business leaders provide their own take on opportunities in PNG’s economy. Greg Pawson, General Manager Pacific Banking, Westpac ‘Papua New Guinea is a very important market for us. We employ more than 400 staff across our PNG business. We have sixteen branches and we’re expanding, with new business centres in Lae and Port Moresby. We’re about to relocate our main […]
PNG spearheads regional growth
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1 May 2012 by Leave a Comment
Papua New Guinea is expected to remain the standout economy in the Pacific over the coming year, with its success having a knock-on effect on neighbouring Solomon Islands. Business Advantage summarises the outlook for the region’s larger economies. Unsurprisingly, the region’s fastest-growing economies are those whose economies are based around exporting natural resources, especially to Asia. ‘In Papua New Guinea […]
Reaching out to the unbanked
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1 May 2012 by Leave a Comment
Papua New Guinea’s strong financial services sector is becoming ever more sophisticated in servicing both the mass-market and premium ends of the market. ‘PNG continues to have a very, very strong banking sector. We are very lucky here to have the banks that we do. Investors want that, and they often don’t expect that there’s […]
The changing face of investment in Papua New Guinea
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1 May 2011 by Leave a Comment
With PNG expected to grow faster than China in 2011, Business Advantage examines just who is investing in PNG and in what sectors, and asks where the best opportunities lie in the future. ‘We’re at the start of a very long term growth period—the outlook long-term is extraordinary,’ says Rod Mitchell, the joint-CEO of PNG […]
Westpac celebrates 100 years of banking in Papua New Guinea
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1 May 2010 by 1 Comment
On May 10, 1910 two young men established PNG’s first commercial bank. Burns Philp had been reluctantly providing banking services before Messers Pickering and Sefton arrived at Port Moresby harbour, and set up shop as the Bank of New South Wales in Douglas Street. Branches at Samarai, Rabaul, Kavieng, Salamua, Wau, Madang and Boroko were […]
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