Preparations for APEC

 IT is notable that businesses in Port Moresby are expanding their capacity in preparation for major upcoming events such as the 2018 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings, the Treasury Department says.

In its Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook Report, Treasury said while this may be true for Port Moresby, activities in other centres of the country continue to be affected by commodity prices, particularly for the agricultural commodities that the bulk of the rural population heavily depended on. 

There was lower than anticipated growth in the oil and gas sector this year, given that much of the impact from the PNG LNG project was realised last year. 

While the LNG profile dominates the outlook for this year, the agriculture, forestry and fishery sector is expected to return to trend during the year. 

The agriculture, forestry and fishery sector was expected to grow by 3.2 per cent in this year, compared to 3.6 per cent growth projected at Budget time. 

The downward revision was due to anticipated lower coffee and palm oil production associated with low commodity prices and unfavourable weather conditions. 

With the LNG construction phase of the project completed in 2014, non-mining GDP slowed down to 1.2 per cent, as the indirect and direct benefits which flowed through during the construction phase wound down. 

However, the report noted that the Government’s increased spending in the economy, which includes among others the construction of sporting facilities for the 2015 Pacific Games, the preparation for the 2018 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings, and spending on maintenance of key infrastructure are expected to partially fill in some of the gaps created by the PNG LNG project.