Vietnam eyes stronger ties with Papua New Guinea

HANOI, Nov 10 (Bernama) -- Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang said the country is keen to enhance bilateral relationship with Papua New Guinea, Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reported.
Sang expressed the desire during a meeting with Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O'neill on the sidelines of the 22th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' meeting in Beijing on Monday.
Exchanging visits at all levels, holding business meetings and signing agreements have been identified as ways to help boost economic, trade, investment and energy ties between both countries.
The two leaders reached a consensus on strengthening bilateral cooperation at multilateral forums and closer coordination within APEC.
Vietnam and Papua New Guinea will host the APEC Economic Leaders' meeting in 2017 and 2018 respectively.
The two countries established diplomatic relations on Nov 3, 1989.

-- BERNAMA

China, Papua New Guinea look to more cooperation

XINHUA

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday called for cooperation with Papua New Guinea in trade, energy, natural resources, infrastructure, agriculture and culture.

China is willing to boost bilateral relations with Papua New Guinea, China's important partner in the South Pacific, Xi said.

Xi made the remarks at the meeting with visiting Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O'Neill, who is in Beijing to attend the 22nd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting from Nov. 10-11.

Papua New Guinea is a major leader in regional cooperation among Pacific islands countries, said Xi, who is going to visit Fiji and meet with leaders of the countries that have diplomatic relations with China in the next few days.

Xi said he expects to hold discussions with leaders of these countries, including Papua New Guinea, on friendly cooperation.

O'Neill told Xi that Chinese investment have contributed to his country's economic growth and people's livelihood.

Papua New Guinea is looking forward to more cooperation with China and will promote the relations between China and other Pacific island countries.

Petrodollars: Figuring out what to do with PNG’s new LNG wealth

By John Kingston | November 10, 2014

Platts

As Papua New Guinea enters the small fraternity of LNG exporters, it needs to figure out what do with the money the poor nation is going to earn. Christine Forster looks at the issue in this week’s Oilgram News column, Petrodollars.

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The start-up in April this year of the ExxonMobil-operated Papua New Guinea LNG project was an historic moment for the small Pacific nation, marking the arrival of the world’s newest player on the global gas market.

At a price tag of $19 billion, the PNG LNG project represents the biggest investment in the country’s history. With the project now up and running at full capacity, and with the prospects firming for the development of a second LNG project at the InterOil-operated Elk-Antelope fields, PNG’s economy is set for a transformation.

But with the oil and gas industry’s increasing importance to PNG’s economy comes an even greater need for transparency, according to Oil Search, a key stakeholder in both PNG LNG and Elk-Antelope and operator of all the country’s producing oil fields.

“We estimate that over the next 30 odd years some $40 billion in total cash flow will come to the PNG government,” Oil Search Managing Director Peter Botten told a recent investor briefing when discussing the returns expected from the emerging LNG industry. “That clearly has to be managed well through a sovereign wealth fund…We need to help, along with ExxonMobil and our other partners in making sure that that those benefits do get delivered.”

The PNG parliament passed legislation in 2011 and 2012 to create a sovereign wealth fund to manage government surpluses from projects such as PNG LNG. But there are still serious challenges for the government to ensure transparency and accountability for the revenues flowing from development.

“Transparency is a very big thing,” Botten acknowledged. “EITI [the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative] and transparency of where those funds go, the development of the sovereign wealth fund and certainly publishing where all those benefits go is of critical importance in terms of managing community expectations and ensuring we meet those obligations,” he added.

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Natural resources already dominate PNG’s export mix, accounting for nearly two-thirds of earnings, headed by oil, gold and copper. ExxonMobil’s project adds to this list export capacity of 6.9 million mt/year of LNG from two production trains at the liquefaction facilities near Port Moresby.

The project is an integrated development that includes gas production and processing facilities in PNG’s Southern Highlands, Hela, Western, Gulf and Central provinces. More than 700 km (434 miles) of pipelines connect the project facilities, including a gas conditioning plant at the Hides field and the liquefaction and storage infrastructure on the coast.

The project delivered its first LNG cargo in May and reached full operating capacity ahead of schedule in late July, following what was reportedly a trouble-free ramp-up. By the end of September, it had shipped 23 LNG cargoes, including the first delivery under its long-term contracts, which cover 95% of capacity and are with China’s Sinopec, Tokyo Electric Power Company and Osaka Gas, and Taiwan-based CPC.

The scale of the project is huge for such a small nation. Since the start of construction in early 2010, the PNG LNG project has employed a total of more 55,000 workers, peaking at a workforce of 21,220 in 2012. Around 40% of the project’s workforce were PNG citizens, and the co-venturers had spent more than Kina 11 billion ($4.2 billion) on local services and supplies by the time production started.

PNG enjoyed its tenth straight year of economic expansion in 2012, when real gross domestic profit rose by 8.1%, according to figures from the Australian government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Growth slowed to an estimated 5.5% in 2013 and is forecast to be 5.8% in 2014.

According to the 2014 CIA World Factbook, the massive gas development has the potential to double PNG’s GDP in the near-term and triple its export revenue from the $5.6 billion recorded in 2012. It will boost government coffers, generate local employment opportunities and royalty payments to landowners, and provide infrastructure which could spur further industry development.

That means the oil and gas industry’s already well-established role in PNG’s economy is likely to get even bigger. For its part, Oil Search is already managing a range of significant infrastructure projects on behalf of the government, and is delivering its own community programs in areas such as agriculture and water supply. In addition, the company is the second-largest health service provider in the country.

For PNG, where only 6% of people have access to power and 30% of the population still lives below the international poverty line of $1.25/day, LNG should be a game-changer. — Christine Forster in Sydney

NEC approved proposed public service time and attendance policy

The National Executive Council  recently endorsed a proposed public service time and attendance system policy to manage uncontrolled absenteeism of large numbers of public servants.
Prime Minister Peter O'Neill said Cabinet endorsed the proposed policy and reiterated that many ministers and governors were concerned about poor time keeping and daily attendance of public servants, resulting in poor service delivery over the years.
"Our elected representatives are simply voicing the concerns of their constituents who continue to suffer by officers' poor attendance and incompetency at work," O'Neill said.
He said in order to impose strict discipline on time-keeping and attendance, there must be a consistent recording system in place.
"Each agency head must be able to judge the performance of individual officers against the rules.
"There is a General Order requiring that every department keeps a manual or journal to enable officers to sign in and sign out stating their times of commencing and finishing work daily," the Prime Minister said.
He further announced that Cabinet also approved various pilot sites to test and develop the payroll linked electronic monitoring and control systems.
"This will introduce a compulsory electronic controlled time and attendance system across the public service to improve productivity and service delivery,"  O'Neill said.
Further, the Prime Minister said the proposed policy woulf improve productivity as measured by the improvements in attendance at the workplace and is targeted to improve at a 20% rate.
"The Department of Personnel Management has been directed by Cabinet to set up a Timekeeping & Attendance Taskforce headed by its Secretary (Chairman) and work with other lead agencies to establish and coordinate this project, " O'Neill said.

PILP with Taiwan wraps up in Taipei

• Publication Date：11/10/2014 
• Source： Taiwan Today
Pacific Islands Leadership Program with Taiwan concluded Nov. 7 in Taipei City, showcasing Taiwan’s economic and cultural achievements while fostering stronger relations among participants.



MOFA Vice Minister Vanessa Shih (center, first row) is all smiles at the closing ceremony of Pacific Islands Leadership Program with Taiwan Nov. 7 in Taipei City. (Staff photo/Chin Hung-hao)

Drawn from 13 Pacific nations, the 26 young students and professionals took part in a variety of activities like workshops and seminars during the four-week program. They also went on tours of such attractions as National Palace Museum and Sun Moon Lake.
“As a member of the Asia-Pacific, Taiwan spares no efforts in contributing to the development of the region through programs spanning such areas as education, fisheries management, medical care and renewable energy,” Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Vanessa Shih said at the closing ceremony.
“PILP with Taiwan is a perfect example of our commitment in this regard and highlights the importance of close cooperative relations between Taiwan, the U.S. and the Pacific Island nations.”
Also attending the ceremony were ambassadors to the ROC of Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau and Tuvalu, representative to Taiwan of Fiji, charge d'affaires of the Solomon Islands, as well as AIT Director Christopher Marut.
Alatina Ioelu from Samoa said robust exchanges with members of Taiwan’s leading academic, private and public sector institutions during the program paved the way for a new approach to longstanding challenges in the region.
Echoing Ioelu’s remarks, Mona Giheno from Papua New Guinea said PILP with Taiwan opened her eyes to see the value of hard work and perseverance. “People are the greatest assets and I will use what I learned to change my country for the better.”
Co-hosted with East-West Center in the U.S., PILP with Taiwan is in its second year and aims to produce 125 young leaders across the region skilled in leadership and building cooperation by 2017. (DF-JSM)
Write to Taiwan Today at ttonline@mofa.gov.tw

Siaka century helps Papua New Guinea make history

Andrew Nixon
9 November 2014

Yesterday, Papua New Guinea become the sixth team to win their first ODI. Today they did what the previous five couldn't do - win their second.

Batting first after winning the toss at the Tony Ireland Stadium in Townsville, Queensland, Hong Kong lost the sometimes dangerous Irfan Ahmed early on, but recovered with Waqas Barkat and Anshuman Rath putting on 60 for the second wicket before Barkat was out for 24.

Rath then put on 53 for the third wicket with Hong Kong skipper Jamie Atkinson before he was out for 51. Hong Kong in general batted much better than yesterday, with Babar Hayat top scoring with 55. Haseeb Amjad smashed the ball around towards the end of their innings, scoring 42 from just 20 balls.

The final Hong Kong total was 261 before they were bowled out three balls short of their quota of 50 overs. Norman Vanua was the pick of the PNG bowlers with 4-60.

The Papua New Guinea reply was initially dominated by one man - Lega Siaka. The 21 year old, who scored two centuries in the World Cup Qualifier earlier this year, played superbly to make Papua New Guinea's first ODI century. He scored 109 before he was run out, and shared in a 79 run stand for the fourth wicket with Vani Morea.

It was Morea who then took over the run scoring, keeping the strike and keeping up with the required rate even as three wickets fell at the other end. He finished unbeaten on 65, hitting the winning four when a Hong Kong fielder failed to take what could have been a simple catch when he lost the ball in the sun.

The three wicket win sparked celebrations in the PNG camp, who can go back to Port Moresby safe in the knowledge that they've had a better start to their ODI history than any other team. Captain Chris Amini was overcome by emotion in a post match interview, choking back tears as he dedicated the series win to his grandfather, who was the first of many members of the Amini clan to play for Papua New Guinea.

Papua New Guinea will next be in action later this month when they play in the East Asia Pacific Twenty20 Championship in Lismore, New South Wales.

Papua New Guinea beat Hong Kong by 3 wickets
Tony Ireland Stadium, Townsville, 9 November
Hong Kong 261 (49.3 overs, Babar Hayat 55, Anshuman Rath 51, Haseeb Amjad 42, N Vanua 4-60, W Gavera 3-45)

Dion calls for open communication among MPs

DEPUTY Prime Minister and Minister for Inter Government Relations, Leo Dion, who is responsible for all provincial and local level government affairs maintains that effective and open communication among all national MPs is the cornerstone for stability and good governance at the provincial government level.
Dion made this statement when announcing the successful outcome of a compulsory meeting he facilitated last Thursday  with the Prime Minister and all the three MPs from Oro Province.
"From this meeting we, together with all the Oro MPs agreed and collectively resolved that all issues that resulted in the standoff were a direct result of lack of effective communication and consultation among the leaders on mainly management issues affecting the province. We also resolve to uphold that  Garry Juffa is the mandated Governor of Oro Province and maintains his role as chairman of provincial executive council and the provincial assembly as mandated by the people," he said.
Dion said all the MPs and LLG presidents would support Juffa's leadership role as Governor.
"Collectively, we also resolve to refrain and withdraw forthwith any actions that will jeopardise the development prospect and progress of the province. As Minister responsible, I am very pleased with the level of maturity demonstrated by our Oro MPs in their resolution to put their differences aside and work together for the common good of our people," Dion said.
He said the meeting was very important and indeed the outcome was "a testament to what we can do as leaders if we can come together and discuss issues openly with a greater sense of objectivity".
"I thank the Governor for Oro, Garry Juffa; Member for Sohe anf Minister for Community Development, Delilah Gore and Member for Ijivitari,  David Arore for their humbleness in coming together for the compulsory meeting.  I also thank the people of Oro for their patience and refrain during this period of the standoff," he said.
Dion also acknowledged and thanked the Prime Minister, Peter O'Neill for his leadership in fostering a dialogue for the compulsory meeting to take place.