Labour force development vital: Official

Business

PAPUA New Guinea needs to “seriously” prepare its human resources for the increasing Chinese investment in the country, PNG Manufacturers Council chief executive officer Chey Scovell says.
He said there needed to be a transition from the 250,000 formal jobs with a population of over nine million to more than one million formal sector jobs.
Scovell said PNG was now on the verge of the fifth wave of investment.
“China is undeniably at the forefront of at least every economic sector and it is important that we all welcome and embrace this next wave of institutional investors from China,” he said during a China-PNG corporates trade matchmaking and signing ceremony event in Port Moresby last Friday.
“In the most recent times, and since the launch and expansion of the Belt Road Initiative, PNG like many other economies has seen a ramping up of Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) competing in our domestic market, primarily in the construction sector, building the much needed infrastructure that will underpin our future growth.
“In less than 10 years, we have gone to having two active Chinese SOEs to perhaps more than a dozen today and many of them have branched out to partner with locals.”