ExxonMobil extends partnership with Aust university to build better communities

ExxonMobil PNG Limited has extended its partnership with Australian National University Enterprise (ANUE) for three years to continue its Community Livelihood Improvement Project (CLIP) in upstream PNG LNG project areas.
The project involves helping people to improve food security, earn incomes, and start small businesses.
Through the three-year partnership, ANUE and ExxonMobil PNG are aiming to generate sustainable economic benefits to the communities in the project areas, which will cover over 900 rural households and community-based organisations.
Since 2015, EMPNG has invested over K8 million on CLIP to support capacity building for 20 community groups living in and around the Hides, Komo and Angore areas.
This enabled over 400 households to undergo a rigorous set of ‘learning by doing’ activities in the field ranging from food and agriculture production, poultry husbandry, value-added farming techniques, product improvement and marketing, life skills, entrepreneurship development, and exposure to leadership and governance principles.
One of the programme’s success stories is the direct purchase of fresh produce from the local communities by local company Hides Alliance Group (HAG), which provides catering services for the Hides Gas conditioning plant.
HAG has bought more than 30 tonnes of surplus fresh produce from community groups since the inception of the CLIP programme.
“Our long-term partnership will now enable us to improve and build upon what we initiated in 2015 so that more households in the communities can benefit from CLIP,” ExxonMobil PNG managing director Andrew Barry said.
“We want these projects to be sustainable and measurable so that communities benefit for the long term.”
More than K820 million has been invested by ExxonMobil PNG in community and infrastructure programmes focused on education, health, women’s empowerment, agriculture and environment.