‘51pc NBPOL stake ideal’

By MUHAMMED AHMAD
NEW STRAITS TIMES

SIME Darby Bhd will be satisified with having only a 51 per cent controlling stake in New Britain Palm Oil Ltd (NBPOL), which will allow it to secure control of the latter at the shareholder, board and management levels, says its president and group chief executive Tan Sri Mohd Bakke Salleh.
He said the conglomerate was also willing to allow the Papua New Guinea (PNG) government to raise its stake in NBPOL to 30 per cent from 18 per cent upon conclusion of its takeover of NBPOL in a deal worth £1.07 billion (RM5.63 billion).
The acquisition is expected to be completed by December 19.
Sime Darby had on October 9 announced an offer to buy all of NBPOL shares through unit Sime Darby Plantation Sdn Bhd as part of the requirement to obtain a minimum 51 per cent of the voting rights in the global producer of sustainable palm oil.
"The PNG government has expressed interest to increase its stake to 30 per cent, and I think this is good because we would like to work with the authority to grow the business together.
For us, 51 per cent (stake) would be ideal (for Sime Darby)," he said after the company's annual general meeting, here, yesterday.
On the offer price that is fixed at £7.15 for every NBPOL share, a 55.7 per cent premium over its two-month volume weighted average price, Bakke said: "We have itemised the reasons and justifications for making an offer at that price, and we see value".
Sime Darby had said in a statement recently that the acquisition would be funded through internally-generated funds and external borrowings and that the rise in gearing would be managed through tight control of capital expenditure and proceeds from future corporate exercises.
NBPOL has about 135,000ha of land in PNG, of which 80,000ha are planted.
The proposed acquisition by Sime Darby Plantation fits well with the company's strategy to expand its landbank. Post-acquisition, the combined landbank of the two companies will be nearly one million hectares.

CLICK TV announces PNG’s first regional HD

Papua New Guinea broadcaster Click TV has launched its Port Moresby services announcing the country's first regional direct to home service spanning 100% of PNG, Melanesia and Polynesia.
In conjunction with its own channel PNG TV, the new digital broadcaster has launched the sale of PNG's first HD set top boxes with 25 channels launched to Port Moresby on Tuesday.
At its launch on Tuesday the broadcaster also announced a five-year lease of a transponder on the satellite Intelsat 19 to beam 30 channels of local, regional and international channels to Papua New Guinea with services to be launched into Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Cook Islands and small island states in the South Pacific from December 14.
Its own local channel PNG TV will be available in the region and through its local and satellite footprints be available in all PNG cities and rural areas and will also be available to broadcasters and subscribers in parts of Australasia and the South Pacific.
In Port Moresby the company announced it had secured two retail channels for customers to acquire the necessary equipment to enjoy what the platform had to offer.
Included in its Phase 1 content plan are three free to view channels and 22 Pay TV channels including the broadcast of Hope Channel free to the Seventh Day Church of Papua New Guinea.
"We're excited to finally launch our platforms. Viewers will see an improvement in local content with PNG TV and it will provide to local producers and PNG citizens more opportunities to not only partner with us but more importantly foster real change in the community. We would like to play a major part in providing family oriented learning programs to the community", managing director Richard Broadbridge said.
Click has announced Rapid Fones and Datec Mega store as their initial retail channels with early paying subscribers receiving all their channels for free.
The broadcaster says all the Set Top Boxes will be broadcasting some content in HD with their devices having the capability to record content.
Click says they are the first broadcaster to offer HD with each Set Top Box having wifi capability meaning access to the internet using the subscribers TV screen.
"We're offering PNG what it deserves. We will raise the bar in terms of local programmes, a strong and trustworthy newsroom and both LIVE and delayed sport including the first ever Pacific Games in HD, exclusively Click TV's in Papua New Guinea.
Port Moresby Set top boxes go on sale from Tuesday with their national rollout using terrestrial transmitters will occur over the next few months.
Clicks satellite only customers to be able to access their Set Top Boxes from December providing access to 30 channels of TV to viewers in remote areas of PNG and the Pacific Islands.
   
SOURCE: PACNEWS

Papua New Guinea moves to allay asylum seeker safety concerns ahead of Manus Island releases

By Liam Cochrane
ABC

Papua New Guinea's immigration minister says refugees released on temporary visas will be safe on Manus Island, despite fears of further attacks after deadly riots in February.
The comments came as he announced the first 10 positive refugee determinations for those detained on Manus Island.
"They will have temporary visas for an initial period of 12 months called the refugee visa," immigration and foreign minister Rimbink Pato said.
"[This visa] will entitle them to move about Lorengau town and generally be absorbed in activities in the community," he said.
Mr Pato was in Sydney to meet with Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Immigration Minister Scott Morrison.
In the past, asylum seekers have expressed fears of further attacks, after local police, centre staff and residents entered the detention centre in February, beating 24-year-old Reza Barati to death and injuring dozens of others.
Since the attacks, police have arrested two Papua New Guinean men and charged them with murder.
"Their relatives will kill us, piece of cake for them," one asylum seeker told the ABC from the Manus Island detention centre.
"There's no guarantee for our safety here."
PNG's immigration minister declined to guarantee the safety of refugees released into the community on Manus Island but said security would not be an issue.
"We have moved swiftly ... to address the breach of the law by having those concerned arrested and dealt with and the matter is pending in the courts," Mr Pato said.
"One of the reasons for the violence that occurred was the fact that there was no movement on the determination of the resettlement of refugees process, [and] information is now available and therefore there is an element of excitement."
Refugees to receive cultural, language and job assistance
The accommodation facilities for refugees on Manus Island are located at East Lorengau, on the outskirts of the island's main town.
The purpose-built centre cost Australia $137 million and can accommodate approximately 290 people.
While at East Lorengau, refugees will be offered lessons in English, Tok Pisin [language], and local culture. They will be assisted to find work elsewhere in Papua New Guinea.
Mr Pato said the centre would be entirely run by PNG officials.
"We have the resources, the police are empowered, the local staff are empowered and the facility is well secured and manned," he said.
The latest available statistics from the Australian Government showed 1,056 people were detained on Manus Island.
At that time, 104 Refugee Status Interim Determination assessments had been completed with 56 found to be positive and 48 negative.
The PNG government said they expect to make a further 10 refugee determinations each week.
However, a policy to guide the permanent resettlement of refugees is yet to be approved by the country's cabinet-like National Executive Council.

Thailand and PNG consider further agriculture and tourism exchange

During the week of the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting Prime Minister Peter O'Neill held a series of bilateral meetings with the leaders of APEC partner governments.
In meeting with Thailand's Prime Minister, H.E. Prayut Chan-o-cha (pictured), the two leaders explored opportunities in the areas of agricultural cooperation and considered ways for increased people-to-people contact between Thailand and Papua New Guinea.
Speaking after the meeting, O'Neill said Thailand had significant experience in sectors where PNG was expanding into greater export markets.
"The relationship between Thailand and Papua New Guinea continues to grow with expanding trade and investment, and cooperation in areas such agriculture."
O'Neill also noted that the diversity of Thai culture, from the coastal areas and islands, to the inland areas, had some parallels to PNG when it came to tourism promotion. 
"There are lessons our tourism industry could learn from Thailand's experience in expanding their tourism sector," he said.
"Thailand has created a vibrant tourism sector with that is known throughout the world.
"When tourists visit Thailand they have the opportunity to experience a diversity of Thai culture, and it is interesting to observe how they have marketed this to the world market."
O'Neill said he invited Thailand's Prime Minister to visit Papua New Guinea when the opportunity arose.

PM O'Neill promotes Lae port to APEC leaders

Prime Minister Peter O'Neill has promoted the role of Lae as a transportation centre for trade between Asia and the Pacific Islands in his discussion with leaders from APEC economies.
He made the comments during an intervention speech to the APEC Summit in Beijing this week when leaders discussed ways to strengthen connectivity between APEC member economies.  
He also highlighted the need for APEC economies to work together to overcome obstructions or bottlenecks to trade.
"The Asia-Pacific covers such an immense area, so for an island nation like Papua New Guinea, enhancing connectivity is a priority,"  O'Neill said.
"We continue to build our direct linkages for the movement of people, goods, and knowledge and information across borders.
"Papua New Guinea is a hub between the larger economies of the Asia-Pacific and the smaller Pacific Island states. 
"We are expanding our seaport facilities that will see the city of Lae become an important hub for shipping in our part of the Asia-Pacific region.
"A wide-ranging construction programme has been implemented in Lae that has increased the wharf capacity dramatically."
During their meeting, APEC leaders endorsed a number of initiatives that will help to strengthen trade through national ports, including the Blueprint on Connectivity, that will seek to prevent interruptions to the movement of goods as well as services.
"Papua New Guinea welcomes the APEC Blueprint on Connectivity and the implementation plan which establishes our next steps and milestones for progress," O'Neill said.
"For a country like Papua New Guinea, obstructions and bottlenecks in supply chains can have more devastating effects than in other economies.
"We do not have the economies of scale that can absorb and balance interruptions.  The cost to large businesses can lead to losses in the millions, while interruptions to small businesses can be devastating."
The Prime Minister noted that with the blueprint being adopted, a related capacity building plan to improve supply chain performance woulf be particularly important for Papua New Guinea.  
"Advancing this connectivity agenda will have flow-on effects for smaller island states for whom Papua New Guinea is a transportation hub,"he said.
"The funding and capacity building support that comes with this plan will assist Papua New Guinea in implementing the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement."
"APEC leaders agreed that collectively they expect to reach the target of a 10% improvement in supply chain performance by 2015, and this plan will strengthen Papua New Guinea's capacity to play its part in reaching this goal."

PM O'Neill at APEC CEO Summit

Prime Minister Peter O'Neill has provided more than 1,000 Asia-Pacific CEOs and leading businesspeople with greater insight to business and investment potential of Papua New Guinea. 
Participating in a panel discussion at the APEC CEO Summit in Beijing this week,  O'Neill focused on the fundamentals of PNG's development as indicators of long-term economic growth and stability.  These include education, healthcare and infrastructure development, and were discussed in the context of the APEC CEO Summit session topic of "Inclusive Growth."
O'Neill said one of the main approaches the PNG Government  was focusing on was ensuring education became compulsory for all school-aged children from Grade 1 to 12.
"Having access to decent education is one key area that strengthens our community and our economy," he told with delegates.
"Higher literacy rates is an outcome of proper education and enables people to further acquire better skills and get better jobs.
"As part of our focus on these core areas, we are also ensuring that government resources, especially funding, is delivered directly to local communities."
He said for the first time in the country's history, national government funds wrrr being delivered directly to the district and community level, which were aimed at providing basic services that support education, health, law and order and infrastructure locally.
O'Neill informed delegates that for the medium term, Papua New Guinea's economy would reach double-digit growth in 2015.
"This will again enable us to further distribute more services to our local communities," he said.
O'Neill  also made the point that there were a number of similarities between PNG's development and the experiences of partner countries, and that all nations could learn form each other.
"We are learning from internal migration experience especially from countries like China, India and many others in the region. 
"We are also looking at experiences in these countries where small businesses have grown to become large companies, resulting in the improvement of living standards for themselves as well as their community."
O'Neill said this was knowledge and experience that was shared between government and businesses from around the region through participation in forums such as the APEC CEO Summit.

APEC free trade welcomed with careful implementation

The Prime Minister yesterday attendef the second day of the 22nd APEC Economic Leaders Meeting in Beijing, China.
Working to the theme of "Shaping the future through Asia-Pacific partnership," leaders discussed next generation trade and investment issues and progress to establish an eventual Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP).
In his intervention at the Leaders' Meeting, Prime Minister Peter O'Neill expressed his optimism for an FTAAP in the future while at the same time urging the region to proceed with care so as to ensure the viability of small and potentially vulnerable businesses.
"The general consensus was that an FTAAP is positive and will improve transport and logistics in the region, increase trade and create jobs," the Prime Minister said.
"This long-term goal has been advanced by APEC since 2006 and we are taking gradual steps towards it being realised.
"Specifically for Papua New Guinea, ongoing and deeper regional economic integration is essential as a source for trade, and importantly for investment, in order to continue to grow our economy."
"Within the APEC region, Papua New Guinea already has strong government-to-government and business-to-business engagement with most of our economic engagement being within the APEC region."
However, the Prime Minister said any FTAAP should be advanced with consideration of all stakeholders, and communication with people affected by policy and regulatory change as an essential part of the process.
"Deepening multilateral engagement can at times be challenging and controversial, particularly for developing nations, both large and small, were some sectors have not reached a level where competition is sustainable just yet.
"Change must be measured and properly implemented according to timetables that do not harm domestic sectors, while at the same time enable Papua New Guinea to embrace international opportunities.
"It is incumbent upon all governments to communicate with stakeholders such as businesses and other employers.
"We must provide information on both the challenges, and importantly the opportunities afforded by increased engagement in the multilateral trading system."
The Prime Minister said he welcomes the APEC Beijing Road Map on Regional Economic Integration, that was endorsed by APEC Leaders, as a positive development.
"Beijing Road Map on Regional Economic Integration that will provides a step-by-step approach to attaining our broader goal of an FTAAP."