Foreign investment up K1.3bil

THE total value of the 249 foreign investment proposals in the country up to last month is around K1.3 billion, says Investment Promotion Authority (IPA) managing director Clarence Hoot.
He told a business conference that the energy sector had the highest, with K500 million worth of proposed investments. He said the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic had impacted global foreign direct investment (FDI) but it should improve as businesses adapt and progress.
“Our foreign investment statistics as of August 2021 shows that 241 new proposed investments came into PNG,” Hoot said.
“That was about K1.3 billion and the energy sector recorded the highest FDI at a value of K500 million.”
The second highest was the wholesale and retail sector with more than K300 million.
There were also increases in the manufacturing, mining and petroleum and others sectors.
Hoot said the figures were derived from IPA’s foreign certification process.
“Papua New Guinea has had its share in downward FDI’s mainly due to the Covid-19 induced measures and travel restrictions with the movement of people,” Hoot said.
“Despite the pandemic scare, business are slowly picking up and we expect the FDI to rise as well.”
In terms of investment inflow, Australia is at the top followed by Malaysia and the United States.