ANZ to open branch in gas-rich Hides

A NEW ANZ branch will be opened in gas-rich Hides area of Hela province to provide banking services to local people and employees of the LNG project, The National reports.
 ANZ PNG chief executive Vishnu Mohan, Hides Gas Development Company (HGDC) chairman Tuguyawini Libe Parindali and Esso Highlands Ltd (EHL) senior project manager Mark Hackney signed a joint agreement last Thursday to construct a new bank branch which will provide access to banking services for people living in and around the Hides area.

From left: Hackney, Parindali and Mohan at the signing ceremony in Port Moresby

At the signing ceremony, Mohan said: “ANZ is committed to further investment in our business in Papua New Guinea and we are pleased to be partnering with HGDC and be supported by EHL to provide the local business community and residents of the Hides area with better access to banking services.
“With a number of international companies based in the Hides area, we’re now able to provide critical banking services and connect customers to our main branch in Port Moresby and to expertise across our regional network in Asia Pacific, Australia and New Zealand.”
Parindali said: “Greater Hides Area is a critical resources hub in PNG and with the Highlands’ unique geographic location, we need a developed banking solution which will provide the area with a full service branch that is easily accessible.
 “ANZ is providing our community with a critical banking service which we previously haven’t had access to before.”
Hackney said: “This branch of ANZ will provide an important benefit to the people of the region and a convenient way to begin to save for the future.
“EHL constantly looks for ways to bring value and improve the lives of the people of the communities in which we operate, and we’re proud to be part of providing access to savings opportunities.”
The ANZ Hides area branch will be housed in a converted shipping container.
ANZ opened its first “banktainer” branch last March in Lihir for employees of Lihir gold mine in New Ireland province.
ANZ began operations in PNG in 1910 and has 15 branches, more than 55 ATMs, nearly 1,000 Eftpos terminals and 600 staff

PNG coffee firms invited to China trade fair

By AUGUSTINE DOMINIC

COFFEE companies in PNG have been invited to attend the 10th China Agriculture Trade Fair organised by the Ministry of Agriculture of China, The National reports.
 Coffee Industry Corporation Ltd extended the invitation this week to more than 10 coffee companies to attend the fair in Beijing from the Sept 27-30.
The invitation was channelled through the Investment Promotion Authority (IPA) from its networking partner, the Pacific Islands Forum Trade Office (PIFTO) based in Beijing, China.
The invitation said  the event was expected to attract over 2,000 exhibitors from more than 20 countries and more than 3,000 varieties of agriculture products would be exhibited and an estimated 30,000 visitors from 30 countries are expected to come.

Lae-based coffee inspector Warap Era preparing a coffee cupping session during the last PNG Coffee Festival in Goroka in 2010.

Products to be exhibited include agro-products (grains, cash crops, fruit and vegetables, seeds, edible oil, edible fungus, dried fruits and nuts), food and beverages (conventional foods, instant foods, snacks, healthy foods, frozen foods, canned foods, condiment, fruit juices), agro-technology (embryo, breeder, meat products, poultry products, dairy products, fishery products, seafoods, aquaculture products), animal husbandry and aquatic products and agro input products (agrochemical, fertiliser and seeds).
Under the auspices of PIFTO, the organisers will be providing free accommodation (three rooms) to Pacific Island participants/companies for the duration of the event and a free booth for exhibition.
All other costs are to be borne by participants which include airfares, transit accommodation, freight and customs clearance and living allowances.
This offer would be accorded on a first-come-first-serve basis.
Further information can be obtained from IPA officers Julienne Leka-Maliaki or Nestalyn Krewanty on telephone 321 7311, fax 320 2237 or email jleka@ipa.gov.pg or nestalynk@ipa.gov.pg
A similar event in 2011 was described as a success in terms of business and market development

PNG economy to grow strongly over medium-term

By MALUM NALU

THE PNG economy is expected to grow strongly over the medium term, according to Treasury acting assistant secretary – forecasting branch Nancy Lelang, The National reports.
 She told the monthly economic and public sector programme seminar at the Holiday Inn last Friday that in putting together PNG’s fiscal outlook, Department of Treasury formulated projections for government’s total revenue, grants, total expenditures, recurrent expenditures and development budget expenditures.
“Over the medium term 2013 to 2016, government revenue is expected to remain fairly stable, largely because of stable non mineral revenue offsetting the variations in mineral revenue over the medium term,” Lelang said.

Fresh vegetables on sale at Leron in the Markham Valley of Morobe province last month.-Nationalpic by MALUM NALU

“Government’s expenditure is expected to stabilise over the medium term in line with the projected revenue outlook
“Expenditure will be focused on government’s medium term development plan (MTPD) priority areas of health, education, law and order, and transport infrastructure.”
She predicted:

• The PNG economy is expected to grow strongly over the medium term;
• The outlook for government’s total revenue is to remain stable over the medium term;
• In contrast, mining revenues are varying over the medium term. Mining revenue is likely to decline reflective of the closure of Ok Tedi mine in 2015;
• The first lot of the PNG LNG project dividends is expected in 2015. These are sufficient to replace the Ok Tedi mine and the depleted oil field revenues to support government expenditure;
• Government expenditure is expected to be stable in line with projected revenue over the medium term;
• Government debt is expected to be in line with the medium term debt strategy of 30% of gross domestic product;
• The new medium term fiscal strategy (MTFS) will be framed in light of expected low mineral revenues; and
• Over the medium term, the mechanisms to be used to promote PNG’s development is through macroeconomic policies, Industry reviews and reforms,  prudent public debt management, and through the usual annual budgetary allocations

90% deprived of financial services

By GYNNIE KERRO

A “FINANCIAL inclusion day” is planned for later this year, following a 2008 World Bank report which found out that only 8% of the population of PNG has access to financial services while a whopping 90% are “financially excluded”, The National reports.
 The Consultative Implementation and Monitoring Council’s informal economy committee, realising the seriousness of the problem, held a meeting yesterday to start planning for the day.
According to a CIMC concept paper presented at the committee meeting yesterday, PNG ranked at the bottom of the table among Asia-Pacific countries, when it came to “financial inclusion”.
“Some degree of financial exclusion exists in all countries, even wealthy ones, but PNG is at the bottom of the league table among countries in the Asia-Pacific region,” it said.
“Even allowing for the relatively low population densities and rugged topography that make the provision of any services difficult in PNG, the country has performed very poorly in providing access to formal financial services for its people.
“Only about 8% of its population is ‘financially included’, or 92% excluded.
“This compares unfavourably with other Pacific countries, for example, the Solomon Islands (15%), Samoa (19%) and Fiji (39%).
“In Asia, levels of inclusion range from 98% (Singapore) to 1.2% (Pakistan).
“PNG’s level of financial inclusion was actually higher in the 1980s, when there were many more bank branches and agencies than it is today.”
The paper said the National Informal Economy Policy 2011-15 aimed to have the informal economy grow in size and in the diversity and quality of the goods and services it produced.
“The policy nominates two ‘arms’ for action to achieve these goals: the first is ‘financial inclusion’, or giving people access to formal financial services,” it said.
“Only 8% of its people are ‘financially included’ at present, making PNG one of the worst-performing countries in this important indicator of development.
“The policy identifies six ‘roads to financial inclusion’ for PNG.
“Most of these rely on private sector investment in the financial and telecommunications systems.
“This investment will be forthcoming over time if government can provide the enabling policy and regulatory environment for it to occur.”
The paper noted that there had been a big improvement in this area, given the reforms undertaken within the telecommunications industry.
“Competition was introduced in the form of the arrival of Digicel PNG and the rollout of their services of innovative products in partnership with existing service providers such as PNG Power (EasiPay), commercial banks and financial entities (mobile and SMS banking), Eda Ranu (water vending system) and Post PNG (Salim Moni Kwik).
“Nevertheless, the knowledge gap is an ongoing problem that is preventing ordinary Papua New Guineans to have access to these products that are provided.”
“This is an area that service providers and the government will need to work in partnership through providing financial literacy training, introducing financial literacy curriculum into the schools, and through regular awareness.”

Grow non-mineral sector, PNG urged

By MALUM NALU

THE key challenge associated with PNG’s economic outlook is to grow the non-mineral sectors of the PNG economy, according to Treasury acting assistant secretary – forecasting branch Nancy Lelang, The National reports.
 She said looking ahead over the horizon, prices of PNG’s major export commodities would continue to be volatile, with the world economy still suffering from the impact of the uncertainty in global growth and stability.

Lelang...PNG economy to grow strongly...

Because of this, it may take time for a global economic recovery to gain a foothold and stabilise conditions over the medium term.
Lelang said for the medium term (2013 to 2016), the PNG economy was expected to grow strongly.
She told the monthly economic and public sector programme seminar at the Holiday Inn last Friday that these non-mineralsectors included agriculture, forestry and fishing sectors;  electricity, gas and water sectors;  transport, storage and communication sectors; wholesale and retail sectors; construction sector; finance, real estate and business services  sectors;  and the community, social and personal services sectors.
Lelang said the growing of these sectors could be accomplished through policies such as:

• Enhancing competition;
• Developing more effective and efficient markets;
• Reducing impediments to businesses and investments;
• Supporting of microfinance;
• Pursuing reforms to secured lending arrangements;
• Continuing the National Land Development Programme;  and
• Accomplishing the housing policy.

“The growing of the non-mineral sectors can also be accomplished through reviews of industries,” she said.
“Such industries that need to be reviewed regularly include Companies Act 1997, sugar prices, PMV and taxi fares, agriculture commodity pricing, as well as pricing reviews for services offered by state-owned enterprises such as electricity, water, postal and ports prices and for specific regulated products like petroleum by Independent Consumer and Competition Commission (ICCC).
“Equally important are the agriculture, forestry and fishing sectors which comprise a vast majority of our people.
“These can be supported with the government continually maintaining basic infrastructure like roads, bridges and ports, as well as, providing microfinance.
“The onus is also on the private sector and all stakeholders engaged in these no-mineral sectors to operate effectively and efficiently to grow these non-mineral sectors of the economy.
“The benefit of growing the non-mineral sectors of the PNG economy is ultimately to improve the quality of life of all Papua New Guineans, as well as to grow the PNG economy.”

Sir Rabbie joins InterOil board

Interoil Corporation yesterday announced that its board of directors has approved the addition of two members, The National reports.
 Sir Rabbie Namaliu and Samuel Delcamp, former executive director and chief investment officer of the Fuller Foundation, have both joined the board.

Sir Rabbie Namaliu

In keeping with good corporate governance practices, the board also decided to separate the roles of chairman and chief executive officer.
Dr Gaylen Byker was appointed chairman of the board.
Phil Mulacek will continue as chief executive.
In addition to serving as PNG prime minister from 1988 to 1992, Sir Rabbie served as Speaker of the National Parliament between 1994 and 1997.
Prior to this, Sir Rabbie was minister for foreign affairs and Trade from 1982 until 1984 and has held several other senior government posts since his first election to parliament in 1982.
Sir Rabbie has chaired InterOil’s PNG advisory committee since last August.
Delcamp has more than 40 years of investment experience.
He served as executive director and chief investment officer of The Fuller Foundation, a public charity, for 24 years.
Delcamp was instrumental in founding the organisation and overseeing the growth in its assets under management from US$4 million to more than US$600 million.
Byker has additionally served as director and president of MBM Partners Inc, an unregistered investment adviser.
During his tenure as a director since 1997, Byker held roles as lead independent director and  chair of the board’s compensation, among others. Nominating and governance committees and membership of its audit and reserves committees

Kongo Coffee to get K10 million loan funding

INTERNATIONAL Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group, will set up a risk-sharing facility with Bank South Pacific to enable the bank to provide K10 million in loans to Kongo Coffee Ltd, the largest locally-owned coffee exporter in Papua New Guinea, The National reports.
 The financing will help the company buy more coffee from farmers, meet market demand and create more jobs.
“IFC’s guarantee means Bank South Pacific will now be able to lend us the money we need to triple our coffee processing capacity to six tonness per hour from two tonnes,” Jerry Kapka, Kongo Coffee’s managing director, said.
“This improvement will allow us to purchase more coffee beans from local farmers, satisfy our customers’ demands, and increase our coffee exports.”
The company largely buys its coffee from remote communities in Chimbu province, where more than 100,000 people rely on the coffee industry for jobs and income.
Most of its suppliers are small growers who own less than two-and-a half hectares of land.
In addition, IFC will provide advice to Kongo Coffee to improve its corporate governance, internal systems, and management skills.
“By helping Kongo increase its exports and sustainability, we are giving small-scale coffee farmers an assured buyer who will want more of their product,” Carolyn Blacklock, IFC’s resident representative in PNG, said.
“More demand means younger farmers have a future and are given the opportunity to expand their businesses, increase profits, and create jobs.” 
A key priority for IFC in the PNG is to provide investment and advisory services to financial institutions to better serve micro, small, and medium enterprises and expand access to finance in rural areas to improve living standards and create economic opportunities.  
IFC is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector.
It helps developing countries achieve sustainable growth by financing investment, providing advisory services to businesses and governments, and mobilising capital in the international financial markets.
In fiscal 2011, amid economic uncertainty across the globe, IFC helped its clients create jobs, strengthen environmental performance, and contribute to their local communities  – all while driving its investments to an all-time high of nearly US$19 billion