PNG looking to embrace digital tech

Business

DIGITISATION and innovation will be the focus when Papua New Guinea takes over the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Business Advisory Council  leadership next year, co-chair David Toua, pictured, says.
He was responding to questions on the lack of digital infrastructure in the Pacific region.
“We’ve recognise the importance of digitisation,” Toua said.
“We are creating a new working group.”
Regional economic integration working group chairman Sir Rod Eddington said the council working group would be working with PNG.
“We will work with Toua and the PNG team to ensure we continue with the things we have focused on this year,” he said.
“All those priorities are important to the PNG economy as small businesses across Apec continue to prosper. We will help them take advantage of the improvement in technology to allow small businesses to get into the global markets.”
ABAC 2017 chair Hoang Van Dung said the global Gross Domestic Product was projected to increase next year.
“We are seeing broad-based economic recovery regionally and globally,” he said.
“The IMF and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have projected that global GDP will increase by 3.7 next year, up from just over 3 per cent in 2016. Trade flows are also recovering.”
Hoang said ABAC members were united in support of the rules-based global trading system looking ahead to December’s World Trade Organisation ministerial meeting in Buenos Aires.