How far have APEC economies come in achieving free trade?

Experts ask: How far have APEC economies come in achieving free trade?

 

Singapore, 15 July 2009 – APEC officials are currently considering progress of members in trade liberalization and facilitation.  Specifically, Russia, Papua New Guinea, Viet Nam and the Philippines will be subject to rigorous assessment of seventeen key policy areas affecting trade environments.

Similar exercises are conducted on a rotating basis as economies review and scrutinize the Individual Action Plans (IAPs) of their counterparts.  IAPs outline progress made toward achieving the goals set out in the Bogor Declaration of 1994.  This declaration established a target of free trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region by 2010 for developed economies and 2020 for developing economies; and these goals were adopted by all APEC economies.

To ensure consistent progress, the studies are conducted by independent review teams who also consider reports issued by the World Trade Organisation and studies published by experts who have also assessed the economies in question.  During the Peer Review session, findings and analysis are discussed openly among members and subsequently made available to the public.

Summaries of the four most recent IAP Peer Reviews conducted and cited here will be made available at the close of each peer review, respectively:

Papua New Guinea: http://www.apec.org/media/2009_iapbrief_pnewguinea.html (available today)

Philippines: http://www.apec.org/media/2009_iapbrief_philippines.html (available today)

Russia: http://www.apec.org/media/2009_iapbrief_russia.html (available today)

Viet Nam: http://www.apec.org/media/2009_iapbrief_viet_nam.html (available 16 July)

Complete reports will be made available on 19 July 2009 at:

Papua New Guinea: http://www.apec.org/media/2009_iap_pnewguinea.html

Philippines: http://www.apec.org/media/2009_iap_philippines.html

Russia: http://www.apec.org/media/2009_iap_russia.html

Viet Nam: http://www.apec.org/media/2009_iap_viet_nam.html

News photos will be available on the APEC website on the conclusion of respective peer reviews:

http://www.apec.org/apec/news___media/news_photos.html

 

For more information, contact:

Carolyn Williams at cdw@apec.org or at (65) 9617 7316

Anita Douglas at ad@apec.org or at (65) 9172 6427

 

 

Dream comes true

By ISAAC NICHOLAS in The National, Papua New Guinea’s No. 1 daily newspaper

 

THE Hela and Jiwaka people’s dream for their own separate provinces became a reality yesterday when Parliament voted 83-1 for the two new provinces to be carved out from Southern Highlands and Western Highlands by 2012.

The Southern Highlands will lose the gas-rich Hela region, while the fertile agriculture area that is Jiwaka will no longer be part of Western Highlands.

Provincial Affairs Minister Job Pomat said an interim administration would be in place for the two new provinces until the 2012 elections, after which they would have their own full administrations.

When the euphoria of welcoming the two new provinces dies down, the tough task of drawing their boundaries will begin.

In the oil and gas-rich Southern Highlands, it will be tricky which side of the boundary Kutubu, Moran, Gobe and even Juha gas field will be placed. Some of these people and their leaders may want to remain a part of Southern Highlands.

Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare, who pushed for the creation of the two provinces, drew praise from Highlands leaders from Enga, Western and Southern Highlands who turned out in force late yesterday for a joint media conference to welcome the birth of the two provinces.

Southern Highlands Governor Anderson Agiru said it was the greatest gift the Grand Chief could have given them in the twilight of his illustrious political career.

“Today is the date with destiny for Hela and Jiwaka,” Mr Agiru said. “I am very happy to be part of the National Alliance Government that has honoured its commitment.”

He said the Hela people had repeatedly said “no Hela province, no gas”, but the Prime Minister had delivered both the Benefits Sharing Agreement (BSA) and now the Hela province.

Mr Agiru stressed that Hela and Southern Highlands would grow up as two sisters and equally share the benefits of the PNG LNG project.

He said there would be no competition between them and praised all his nine Members of Parliament for supporting the move because the province was so huge, with a population of 600,000.

Mr Agiru thanked the National Alliance party, its coalition partners, Mendi MP Pastor Isaac Joseph and Opposition leader Sir Mekere Morauta.

He specifically mentioned Pr Joseph because even though his party leader did not vote for the Bill, he stood up to be counted.

National Alliance deputy leader for the Highlands, Don Polye, said it was an achievement for the Government that had worked for seven years to realise the creation of the new provinces.

He said a technical working team was put together during the last government, which visited and gauged the views of the people who strongly called for their own province.

He said with the “new provinces comes the challenge to have the administration on the ground, for good leadership and to bring socio-economic development to the people”.

Member for North Waghi and Western Highlands deputy governor, Benjamin Mul, although in Opposition, supported the Bill for a separate Jiwaka province.

Mr Mul said he flew in a delegation from his province to Port Moresby and they were in Parliament to watch “live” Parliament’s approval for the new Jiwaka province.

 

Rural Australian computer terminology

From PAUL OATES in Queensland, Australia

Rural Australian computer terminology

 LOG ON:                          Adding wood to make the barbie hotter.
 LOG OFF:                         Not adding any more wood to the barbie.
 MONITOR:                      Keeping an eye on the barbie.
 DOWNLOAD:                 Getting the firewood off the Ute.
 HARD DRIVE:                 Making the trip back home without any cold tinnies.
 KEYBOARD:                    Where you hang the Ute keys.
 WINDOW:                          What you shut when the weather's cold.
 SCREEN:                           What you shut in the mozzie season.
 BYTE:                                   What mozzies do.
 MEGABYTE:                      What Townsville mozzies do.
 CHIP:                                    A bar snack.
 MICROCHIP:                    What's left in the bag after you've eaten the chips.
 MODEM:                            What you did to the lawns.
 LAPTOP:                            Where the cat sleeps.
 SOFTWARE:                      Plastic knives & forks you get at Red Rooster.
 HARDWARE:                    Stainless steel knives & forks - from K-Mart.
 MOUSE:                              The small rodent that eats the grain in the shed.
 MAINFRAME:                  What holds the shed up.
 WEB:                                   What spiders make.
 WEBSITE:                          Usually in the shed or under the verandah.
 SEARCH ENGINE:         What you do when the Ute won't go.
 CURSOR:                          What you say when the Ute won't go.
 YAHOO:                            What you say when the Ute does go.
 UPGRADE:                       A steep hill.
 SERVER:                          The person at the pub who brings out the counter lunch.
 MAIL SERVER:             The bloke at the pub who brings out the counterlunch.
 USER:                               The neighbour who keeps borrowing things.
 NETWORK:                    What you do when you need to repair the fishing net.
 INTERNET:                    Where you want the fish to go.
 NETSCAPE:                    What the fish do when they discover the hole in the net.
 ONLINE:                          Where you hang the washing.
OFFLINE:                         Where the washing ends up when the pegs aren't strong enough.

 

Today's farm report

From PAUL OATES in Queenslands, Australia

The winter sun slowly burns the morning mist away and melts the frost on the grass as I deliver the cattle's molasses based lick. All through the paddocks there were thousands of dew drop covered spider webs  . Brrr.. it is definitely Polar bear weather, so we visited 'Seaworld' yesterday to watch the bears there.

Smouldering remains of the colonial Burns Philp building

 

 

End of an era in Papua New Guinea history

Original photo of the Burns Philp building from the period 1910-1920

Papua Hotel 1955

Moresby Hotel 1955

The burning down of the former Burns Philp building, a colonial icon in downtown Port Moresby on Sunday night, was indeed the end of an era.
It was quite tragic too as Nasfund, which owned the property, was planning to maintain this heritage building which played an important role in the development of Port Moresby and Papua New Guinea.
The building housed the Tribal Den nightclub, several shops including kai bars, an internet café and the National Narcotics Bureau office.
Joint Nasfund CEOs Rod Mitchell and Ian Tarutia said a statement would be forthcoming tomorrow after a board meeting.
“The Nasfund board will be meeting on Wednesday specifically to discuss the issue,” Mr Mitchell said.
“The chairman of Nasfund will make a statement after that meeting.
“Until then, we are unable to make comment although we express a deep sense of disappointment at the loss of this historical icon.”
Burns Philp was once the most-famous company in PNG and the Pacific, with stores in Port Moresby, Samarai, Lae and Goroka, among others.
As well as running all the major shipping routes between Australia and its neighbours, it also ran a huge network of integrated industries, shops and hardware for example.
Those who grew up in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and 1980s would remember the chain of ‘BP’ stores all over the country.
Last December, the former Burns Philp store in Lae was burned down, marking the end of an era in PNG’s second city.
The history of the Burn Philp building in Port Moresby goes back to 1891 when a store was first established in this colonial outpost, according to company history sourced from the internet.
James Burns had been running his shops in Queensland since 1867 but it was not until 1883 that Burns went into partnership with his former employee Robert Philp to form Burns Philp & Co.
In 1880, they had acquired the mail contract to run to Thursday Island and this was the beginning of an active interest in Melanesia and Polynesia which lasted until the late 20th century.
Over the course of these years Burns Philp and other companies which they held controlling interests in were intimately linked to the development of industry in the area.
In the 1880s, Burns Philp was involved in the labour trade which was known as "blackbirding" mainly at the behest of Robert Philp, who was also an aspiring politician but two official enquiries into conditions on board their ships the Heath and the Hopeful, coupled with a downturn in the sugar industry in 1886 led them to look for other ways of making money in Melanesia where most of the labour was recruited.
In 1891 they opened their first stores in New Guinea at Port Moresby and Samarai, setting in motion a brilliant Australian company.
They were the first company to offer tourism to New Guinea, in 1884, advertising the 'New Guinea Excursion Trip'.
This consisted of a five-week trip from Thursday Island and has been described as the "official beginning of tourist cruises in the South Pacific".
Acquisition of the Port Moresby Hotel occurred in 1914, with the Papua Hotel purchased some years later.
Burns Philp went out of existence on December 20, 2006, when all its shares were purchased by Rank Group Australia Pty Ltd
In 2007, Nasfund purchased 51% of the Burns Philp site in downtown Port Moresby.

In 2008, it purchased the remaining 49% comprising 5,191 square metres over six titles. “Maintenance of heritage buildings is important to the city of Port Moresby,” Nasfund said in its June 2009 newsletter.

“It was deemed important that the most-important redevelopment site in Port Moresby be owned by Papua New Guinean workers through their fund.

“Any long-term redevelopment will ensure that the historic Bell Tower section will remain preserved as the Tower is perhaps the most historical building in the country, dating back to the early 1900’s.

“As part of the restoration, a further 950 square metres of disused space will be upgraded for lease to the Port Moresby Chamber of Commerce and Daltron.”

All these plans, infortunately, went up in flames on Sunday night.

Icon destroyed

Caption: A firefighter trying to put out the fire on the roof of Tribal Den nightclub. On the right is the tower undergoing renovations by Hornibook PNG – Nationalpic by Henry MorabangA

 

Burns Philp building razed within two hours

 

By PATRICK TALU in The National, Papua New Guinea’s No. 1 daily newspaper

 

The former Burns Philp Building, a colonial icon in downtown Port Moresby, was gutted by fire last night.

The building housed the Tribal Den nightclub, several shops, including kai bars, an internet café and the National Narcotic Bureau office.

The building was recently purchased by Nasfund.

Eyewitnesses told The National the fire started around 7pm, and by 9pm, the building was burnt to the ground.

The fire service arrived at the scene but could do little. But they managed to prevent the fire from spreading to the Westpac Bank.

The cause of the fire is not known.

An employee of a firm that operated the internet café said he believed the fire started in one of the offices at the top floor.

The firemen responded quickly but could not contain the fire as the building was too wide and the fire had spread from the middle of the building.

The winds, blowing briskly towards Fairfax Harbour, ensured the fire spread quickly.

The firemen tried their best to put out the fire but tackling the inferno from only one side was a lost cause as the fire had already spread all over the building, making it impossible for the fireman to contain it.

As the flames spread towards the Westpac Bank building, which was adjacent, firemen fought hard to prevent the flames from engulfing the bank.

Chief of PNG Fire Service Isaac Silas, who was at the scene, said he could not make any comments yet as it was too early to determine the cause of the fire.

Some opportunists tried to take advantage of the situation to loot shops but police were on guard.

Residents from downtown, who were there to witness the scene, described the building as one of the iconic and oldest buildings from the colonial period.

They said it was built almost the same time as the Papuan Club, which was burnt down in the late 1960s.

In 2007, Nasfund purchased 51% of Burns Philp and purchased the remaining 49% last year. The site comprised 5,191 square metres over six titles.

The fund wanted to redevelop the site for historical reasons. It wanted to ensure that the Bell Tower section would remain preserved because the tower was perhaps the most historical building in the country, dating to the early 1900s.