Economy relies on businesses: O’Neill

 Papua New Guinea’s economy depends on the continued support from major businesses, Prime Minister Peter O’Neill says.

He said the Government would give the necessary backing that these businesses needed.

O’Neill was speaking at the Puma Energy refinery at Napanapa outside Port Moresby yesterday where he opened four new tanks.

“For our economy and for our country to be successful, business like Puma Energy and all the other important business that are operating in Papua New Guinea must be allowed to operate in a conducive environment,” O’Neill said. 

“They create wealth, they create employment, and they create thousands of other jobs that are in addition to the direct employment that they provide for the people of Papua New Guinea. 

“That is why it is very pleasing for me to be here today.

“Few years back when Puma bought InterOil and its operations here at the refinery, I meet the gentleman who was the principal of Trafigura – the parent company of Puma – who is  no longer with us today but he was a very famous.

“To come here and witness what he said he was going to do proves he was a driven person.

“He continued to invest in Papua New Guinea, because he believed in the future of the country.

“Although he is not here with us today, I am very pleased to see here that the chief executive officer (CEO) of Puma and the other executives of Trafigura are able to continue what he was doing.

“Our responsibility as a government is to create an environment that is stable for our investors.

“Our tax regimes, our government policies must be stable so that investors have the confidence that their investment is safe and get good returns to Papua New Guinea.”