Firm’s investment worth K2bil

By PETER ESILA
STEAMSHIPS Trading Company has about K2 billion worth of investments on foot in the country, says managing director Rupert Bray.
Bray said the biggest challenge for the company was the underlying state of the Papua New Guinea economy.
“Steamships only operates in PNG with a small exception of Pacific Towing which has bases in Fiji and the Solomon Islands,” he said.
“We might look at opportunities around the region, but our focus remains on PNG.
“We have the Harbourside precinct development and that is a half a billion kina total development. It’s a mix use, it has retail, office space and apartments – that is ongoing at the moment and that hasn’t stopped.
“And then we are looking at three other large property projects, which I hope to announce at some point during this year or early next year, one in Port Moresby, one in Mt Hagen and one in Lae.
“On the trucking and logistic side, we have additional investments in new ships, new trucks and new equipment to come in.”
Meanwhile, Bray said like all businesses, last year was tough with the impacts of the Covid-19.
“There is a big challenge for 2021, it is the underlying state of the economy,” he said.
“We have challenges, the ongoing impact of the Covid-19, we have a weak economy because people do not have money in their pockets and we have a lack of big projects.
“We expect the Covid-19 impact to decline by the third or fourth quarter.
“We expect the general economy to pick up and, hopefully, some of these projects to be announced.”