Overseas partners visit for talks

KUMUL Consolidated Holdings met Australian, Japanese, New Zealand and United States government representatives in Port Moresby yesterday for talks on building key economic infrastructures across Papua New Guinea.
“These countries are our closest long-term partners,” said Minister for Public Enterprises and State Investments William Duma.
“They have invested billions of kina in our nation’s economic development for decades.
“Papua New Guinea prides itself on its track record of meeting its investment obligations and commitments.
“We have created an environment conducive for investment.
“This government is excited about the opportunities these new initiatives offer to promote infrastructure investment that is sustainable, transparent and provides genuine benefit to all Papua New Guineans.
“Kumul Consolidated Holdings (KCH) managing director Darren Young said that improving and sustaining the country’s infrastructure, particularly in the areas of transport, energy and ICT, was “a key priority of the government’s medium-term dvelopment plan,” he said.
“Our focus over the course of these discussions predominantly concerns the improvement and sustainability of the nation’s infrastructure, particularly in the areas of communications and energy utilities, diversity in water services, transport and agriculture,” Duma said.
“We will be keen to understand and appreciate how projects that will influence our ability to achieve and sustain the MTDP outcomes, can be structured and funded to implementation.”
Papua New Guinea is working with Australia, Japan, New Zealand and the United States to deliver on commitments made at the Apec Leaders’ Summit in Port Moresby in November last year.
Under the PNG Electrification Partnership programme – announced during Apec and launched by Prime Minister Peter O’Neill last month – Australia, Japan, New Zealand and the US are supporting the Government’s goal of connecting 70 per cent of Papua New Guinean households to electricity by 2030.
During last year’s Apec, Australia, Japan and the US also announced a commitment to mobilise and support the deployment of private sector investment capital for major new infrastructural projects, enhance digital connectivity and energy infrastructure, and achieve mutual development goals in the Indo-Pacific region.
During this current visit, the international team are meeting with Kumul Consolidated Holdings to explore opportunities to finance and delivery of infrastructure needs.
This includes options to grant funding from development agencies, concessional loans and commercial financing from export credit agencies.
The team will meet ministers, government departments and state-owned enterprises covering energy, telecommunications and transport sectors, as well as key private sector companies and multilateral development banks.