Qld eyes PNG devt

Business, Normal

QUEENSLAND treasurer Andrew Fraser says a plan to tap into Papua New Guinea’s emerging resources sector will be an important step towards diversifying far north Queensland’s economy.
Addressing a business breakfast in Cairns yesterday morning, Fraser announced he would lead a three-day trade delegation to PNG in a fortnight.
He said he and business representatives would hold high-level meetings, including with the Central Bank governor.
“There is every opportunity to get a counter-cyclical arrow in its kit bag, to make sure that at times when the economy can be subjected to vagaries in the movements of the dollar or movements in demand in tourism and construction that there’s something else there built into the base,” Mr Fraser said.
“We’ll be undertaking meetings at a high level, introducing business people to the high commission up there, meeting with the governor of the Central Bank in PNG, meeting with industry representatives, meeting with LNG proponents, among others.”