Australia remains PNG’s biggest investor with trade worth K19bil

By PETER ESILA
AUSTRALIA is still the biggest investor in Papua New Guinea, with trade between the two countries worth US$5.9 billion (K19.9bil) in 2017, a conference has been told. David Tonkin, chief legal counsel at Australian Trade and Investment Commission, made the revelation at the international mediation and arbitration conference in Port Moresby yesterday. Tonkin said a lot more needed to be done in terms of PNG acceding to the New York Convention and establishing domestic arbitral institutions.
He said the Pacific region continued to experience significant economic challenges, with most economic growth limited and not increasing relative to population growth.
“Sources contributing to the challenging business environment include the inefficient and burdensome regulation, ineffective contract enforcement, corruption, limited access to finance and inadequate access to insurance and rick mitigation,” he said.