Aircraft burnt to ash by angry tribesmen in PNG’s Southern Highlands Province.

One of Papua New Guinea’s pride, a Desh-8 aircraft which is proudly acclaimed as the nation’s flag carrier among other Air Niugini fleets was abruptly burnt down to ash by disgruntled tribemen in Mendi, the capital of Southern Highlands province.

The aircraft was doing it’s normal routine to Mendi airstrip when it was ambushed by aggrieved tribesmen who were disappointed over a court decision on an election petition case for the Southern Highlands provincial seat.

According to reports from witnesses on the ground, the aircraft landed at the Mendi airstrip around midday and was due for takeoff back to Port Moresby when the aggrieved tribesmen stormed into the tarmac and blocked off the plane with a vehicle and set alight the plane.

The Captain and the co-pilot along with the flight attendants were brought to safety with no injury sustained.

However, they are recovering from the ordeal as it was the first of it’s kind in the country’s history. The images of the buring of the plane has gone viral on social media and reached other international news organisations.

There are also reports that the province’s newly built court complex and the private residence of the incumbent Governor William Powi was also burnt down by the disgruntled tribesmen.

Meanwhile, the country’s national airliner Air Niugini through it’s subsidery Link-PNG released a statement this afternoon announcing it’s cease of services to Mendi and the nearby Hela and Enga provinces for an indefinite period.

The government is expected to make a statement soon on whether to declare a State of Emergency in the Southern Highlands province.

Many citizens have expressed dispointment over the incident through various social media platforms.

How e-Commerce Can Thrive In Places With No Power Or Internet

13 June 2018

Papua New Guinea’s Central Bank Trials Blockchain Tech To Boost Financial Inclusion

In a remote, rural village in Papua New Guinea that has limited infrastructure and internet, an innovative box has been trialed to give residents access to financial and other services for the first time.

The box, which runs on a small solar panel, creates a unique digital identification for residents, allowing them to make and receive payments on their mobile phones and access a range of services to improve their lives and grow their livelihoods.

“It’s a big constraint for our people, especially in rural areas,” said Loi Martin Bakani, Governor of the Bank of Papua New Guinea, of the lack of traditional IDs such as birth certificates.

“Our goal for the people of Papua New Guinea is financial inclusion, not only in terms of having bank accounts but also having access to financial services, which is very important,” he said.

With rugged terrain, limited access to electricity and poor internet connection, Papua New Guinea faces challenges to achieving its goal. As much as 85 per cent of the eight million-strong population does not have a bank account and only 18 per cent live in urban areas where traditional banks are located. But most people have mobile phones.

Governor Bakani said a range of innovative technological solutions are being explored to increase the population’s access to financial services and ability to do business. Digital IDs can give residents better access to remittance services. It can also reduce land ownership disputes, a common issue in Papua New Guinea, as owners can leave a digital footprint to verify ownership.

IDBox is tested in a village in Papua New Guinea.”
IDBox is tested in a village in Papua New Guinea

The IDBox that has been trialed in Lalaura Village, some six hours drive from the capital, uses residents’ fingerprints and their SIM card numbers that are encrypted to form an ID. The personal information is recorded or stored using blockchain. Blockchain technology allows for the verifiable and permanent storing of information on a globally decentralized database, in a way that is secure from tampering.

The project is also set to be trialed in another area of Papua New Guinea.

“We are undertaking research to carefully consider blockchain as a technology to achieve our objectives of financial inclusion,” Bakani told a recent APEC trade policy dialogue on digital trade in Port Moresby.

“We can leapfrog mature economies with this technology.”

Papua New Guinea’s efforts come as APEC trade ministers have emphasized the importance of continuing to work together to “bridge the digital divide” among member economies, including identifying and addressing new issues and barriers to digital trade in the region.

Ministers also emphasized the need to forge ahead with building capacity, sharing best practices and undertaking other cooperative measures so that citizens of all economies reap the benefits of the digital economy.

“We are committed to promoting cooperation on harnessing the opportunities brought by the internet and digital economy, while working together to bridge the digital divide,” ministers said in a statement after their recent meeting in Port Moresby.

Darren Hanniffy from the Digicel Group, which has erected more than 1,300 communication towers in Papua New Guinea, said given the government’s commitment to innovation, a tremendous opportunity exists to push ahead with developing the digital ecosystem, including digital IDs, mobile financial services and greater connectivity. But Hanniffy, head of shared value at Digicel, said collaboration and cooperation were needed from government, commercial investors and institutional donors for such an ecosystem to succeed.

Governor Bakani said the bank was still investigating whether digital IDs stored on blockchain technology as well as other innovations would be adoptedfor the whole of Papua New Guinea.

“The journey that we have started has been exciting, frustrating, exhilarating and rewarding also. Our journey is two years old and we have come a long way. We have a lot more to learn, but we also don’t want to be left behind,” he said.

INTRUST SUPER CUP: Ase Fights Dengue Fever As PNG Hunters Find Form

Robert Burgin & QRL Media & Levington Melvin Levongo

Are the drums beating for the PNG Hunters to surge into Intrust Super Cup finals contention?

That was the question after Papua New Guinea’s favourite sons recorded their fourth win of their past five games with a 26-12 victory against the Mackay Cutters.

All year, those close to the defending premiers have been saying they would improve as the season wore on, with a significant turnover of playing personnel disrupting their start to the 2018 campaign.

Sunday’s clash against the Cutters at Oil Search National Football Stadium saw PNG never headed after scoring first via centre Thompson Teteh from a Watson Boas pass and going on with the job.

The home side had all the momentum and ball possession and forward partners Enoch Maki and Stanton Albert set the platform for their side.

The Hunters went further in front through Watson Boas after a grubber kick by Wartovo Puara Jnr; and scored their third try of the first half when fullback Adex Wera broke a tackle and sprinted 70m to go over.

At halftime the score was 20-6 in favour of the Hunters, with Jayden Hodges going over for the Cutters.

The ladder now shows the Hunters in ninth spot, narrowly held out of the top eight on for-and-against by the Sunshine Coast Falcons.

Their last four games have seen the Hunters beat Mackay, Townsville, Central Queensland and Wynnum Manly, interrupted by a 30-12 loss to Easts.

While cynics may point out that the Cutters, Capras and Seagulls occupy the bottom three places on the table, Townsville is one of the premiership favourites.

Making matters more impressive, the Hunters had played the past few weeks without star playmaker Ase Boas, who contracted dengue fever.

Dengue fever is a viral disease spread by mosquitoes in tropical areas, and can include extreme tiredness, intense headaches, muscle pain, vomiting and diarrhoea.

Although the disease is usually non-fatal if treated correctly, up to 25,000 people are killed worldwide by the illness each year.

He made his return to the field in the win over the Cutters via the bench and coach Michael Marum has told media he would consider him for Friday night’s game against Ipswich Jets at North Ipswich Reserve.

Oh Olam!Justin’s barnstormer

INTRUST SUPER CUP
QRL Media
Sun 3 Jun 2018, 09:06 PM

Justin Olam “came off the back fence” to score a roaring try which helped Sunshine Coast put themselves back in the frame for a tense 23-22 victory over the Norths Devils.

Sealed by a Ryan Papenhuyzen field goal 20 metres out from the posts in the final minute, the win keeps last year’s runners-up within striking distance of finals contention.

Olam finished the game with a double, but it was his second four-pointer that had everyone talking, as he steamed on to the ball from deep and burst through four defenders like a cannonball.

Until that point in the 67th minute the Falcons had been behind 22-14.

“Justin was our best today,” coach Craig Ingebrigtsen said.

“We had a plan to go out there and terrorise their halves with some hard running on the edge.

“That last try of his, he came off the back fence and ran with plenty of intent.

“It’s obvious getting a start in the NRL has done him wonders.

“The Storm have Curtis Scott coming back and some quality players in that position, but if he keeps playing football like that, Justin won’t do himself any harm.”

The PNG powerhouse got a taste of NRL a month ago when he pulled on the Storm jerseys against St George Illawarra, but has yet to return to the national arena.

Teammate Papenhuyzen is still yet to debut in the NRL, though he did play in the pre-season testimonial game for Cameron Smith and Johnathan Thurston between the Storm and the Cowboys.

Set to turn 20 next Sunday, the youngster was calm under pressure when the game was on the line.

The Falcons were setting for superboot Khan Ahwang to have a strike, but foiled the Devils by switching their point of attack.

Papenhuyzen’s strike came after prop Jacob Hind levelled the match up in the 71st minute by beating Gehamat Shibasaki to the corner when Norths clumsily failed to clear up a bomb.

The alarm bells must be ringing for the Devils, who were in the driver’s seat but suffered their fifth loss of their last six games.

The only success for Norths in that period has been an 18-16 win against Easts.

This weekend the Sunshine Coast hosts Souths Logan at 5pm Saturday.

Match Preview: Easts Tigers Versus PNG Hunters

Easts Tigers v PNG Hunters
Suzuki Stadium on Saturday, June 2 – 4pm
Head-to-Head: PNG 3 Easts 2 Drawn 1
Twitter: #intrustsupercup #TIGESvPNG

• PNG Hunters rake Wartovo Puara (pictured below) will play his 100^th game for his club this weekend; making him the first Hunter to do. That number includes last year’s Intrust Super Championship match played against Penrith Panthers before last year’s NRL grand final.
• It will be an added milestone for him, with the experienced player taking over the captaincy duties in place of an unwell Ase Boas.
• Butler Morris and Charlie Simon are the two additions to this weekend’s squad.
• While the Hunters have won the past three games between these two sides; they have not won a game against Easts at Suzuki Stadium, Langlands Park.
• Boosted by the inclusion of players such as Christian Welch, the Tigers found some great form last weekend when they clicked into gear to soundly beat the Wynnum Manly Seagulls 54-16.
• They have won two of their past five home games this year while PNG have only won one of their six away games this year. It came against Wynnum Manly in Round 10.

APEC Ministers Open Tourism Markets

Issued by the APEC Tourism Ministerial Meeting

Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, 1 June 2018

Tourism Ministers from the APEC member economies are coordinating their policies in a bid to open new industry opportunities and visitor traffic across the Asia-Pacific.

Addressing changing conditions and new possibilities for micro and small business participation and employment in travel and tourism through digital technology use is at the top of the agenda for APEC Tourism Ministers convened in Port Moresby.

“There are new opportunities for growth and development but with these opportunities come challenges that we must acknowledge and manage,” explained Papua New Guinea Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister and Chair of the 10th APEC Tourism Ministerial Meeting Hon. Emil Tammur MP.

“The onus is on us, as a region, to recognize the need to develop approaches and utilize practices that are sustainable and inclusive to ensure growth in the travel and tourism industry,” Minister Tammur continued.

Tourism Ministers are considering ways to better position operators and the workforce in the APEC region to take advantage of rapid growth in international tourism flows and new consumer trends.

This includes the promotion of policies that facilitate business growth and the harnessing of increasingly accessible mobile technology, apps and big data to boost tourism product development, marketing, tourist services, training and entrepreneurship.

In parallel with this focus, Tourism Ministers are working out a new APEC guideline for industry stakeholders such as local service providers, hospitality businesses and sharing platforms. The aim is to encourage more uniform service and occupational standards, attract investment and raise visitor satisfaction.

Tourism Ministers are also examining strategies for tackling security issues to ensure safe and traveler-friendly destinations as well as adaption to climate change.

“We must develop policies and mechanisms that are responsive to current challenges and acknowledge and integrate the latest and most relevant tourism trends whilst enhancing innovation for the industry’s prosperity,” noted Minister Tammur.

“With the Asia-Pacific generating one of the highest contributions of travel and tourism to the world’s GDP, this further validates the significance of the industry in the global and regional context,” Minister Tammur concluded.

The APEC Tourism Ministerial Meeting will conclude on Friday. It will be followed by an inspection of tourism businesses in Kavieng, New Ireland, an emerging island destination in northeast Papua New Guinea, on Saturday.

FOREX In PNG Not Likely To Ease Any Sooner – ANZ

The Managing Director of ANZ Papua New Guinea, Mark Baker, has said the foreign exchange restrictions are not likely to ease until a major new resources investment comes in. But in the interim he believes the Government is connecting well with business.

Speaking at the UK-PNG Trade and Investment Forum in London, Baker said the lack of foreign exchange is impacting PNG business ‘across the country’.

But he noted that the government is ‘much more attuned to this issue’ than was the case previously.

‘Since the election the new Treasurer (Charles Abel) has met with CEOs and the four major banks on a number of different occasions.

‘This is a forum for discussion which we have previously not seen.’

Baker said there are few options for clearing the foreign exchange market other than to elicit a round of significant new resources investment.

‘In reality, to change the structural position it will require a major project to enter the construction phase—whether that will be Papua LNG with Total and Oil Search, Wafi Golpu with Newcrest and Harmony, or Frieda River and PanAust.

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‘A lower kina would have inflationary consequences.’

‘These all are at various stages and all require some certainty from the PNG government in relation to various tax deliveries before major foreign exchange inflows will materialise.

‘I don’t see this changing significantly for around 12 months from now.’

Kina
Baker, in an observation that resembled comments by Loi Bakani, the Governor of the Bank of Papua New Guinea, argued that a lower kina would have inflationary consequences without necessarily having a positive effect on exports.

‘The pure economics suggest that this is the logical path to reach a market-clearing level.

‘However—and this is on a personal level, my own view—it is really not clear to me that PNG would sell any more exports with a more competitive exchange rate.

‘We understand the importance of taking a longer-term view of doing business in PNG.’

‘The country already sells all that it produces, be it gas, gold, copper, nickel, palm oil, coffee, cocoa.

‘The social impact of a 20 per cent, or similar, price rise for staple imports such as rice cannot be underestimated.

‘Foreign investors may welcome the lower rate, but I would argue that they are also motivated by legislative certainty, particularly around such aspects as land tax and the Mining Act.’

Long term
Baker said it is important to look at the longer term with the PNG economy:

‘At the most senior levels of the ANZ group, we understand the importance of taking a longer-term view of doing business in PNG.’

He implied that PNG has little choice but to encourage large resources investments but, because of its size, it will have difficulty absorbing the cyclical nature of the associated capital flows.

‘The revenues to the PNG government will come in various forms.’

‘The PNG economy is relatively small and not yet the size or breadth to really absorb major projects easily.

‘However, it does need these projects to, in an ideal world, fund investment in critical infrastructure and broaden the economic base.’

Revenue
Baker said the long term prospects look sound, but he did warn it could take almost a decade for the benefits of current activities to flow through.

‘If we just look at the two-train [PNG] LNG project in isolation: the debt raising will be fully repaid by June 2026.

‘[There is] a further estimated 20-year mine from that point, which many actually believe to be conservative.

‘Since its commissioning, the plant has been producing well above the design capacity and over its life it will produce well over 11 trillion cubic feet of gas.’

Baker said the revenues to the PNG government ‘will come in various forms’ but he said by the mid-2020s they will change significantly, increasing sharply.

‘This is quite apart from the other projects.

‘The view from ANZ Research is that PNG would appear to be on the cusp of a super cycle in resources investment, particularly in gas, gold and copper projects.’

Gender Equality, Tech Propel APEC Tourism Development

Issued by the APEC Tourism Working Group
Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, 31 May 2018 –

Tourism officials from the APEC member economies are tapping advancements in gender equality and access to digital technology to boost women-led development of the sector.

Driven by the need to accommodate soaring visitor traffic in the Asia-Pacific, officials convened in Port Moresby assessed ways to enhance women’s entrepreneurship and employment prospects in travel and tourism in the changing environment.

It sets the stage for the APEC Tourism Ministers Meeting here on Friday to take steps forward in confronting gender challenges and maximizing the considerable potential for more inclusive industry growth in the region.

“We are working to establish tourism infrastructure in the APEC region that can accommodate 800 million tourist arrivals annually by 2025,” explained Alcinda Trawen, Lead Shepherd of the APEC Tourism Working Group.

“Opening up opportunities in the sector, whether in hospitality, as a tour operator or a craftsperson turned online entrepreneur, is vital to ensuring we can meet growing demand,” added Trawen, also an official with Papua New Guinea’s Tourism Promotion Authority.

The APEC region welcomes some 400 million tourist arrivals annually, doubling since 2000 on 4.7 per cent average year-on-year growth. What is more, the industry accounts for 3.9 per cent of GDP in APEC and employs 150 million people or 10 per cent of the region’s workforce.

But though tourism is one of the largest employers of women and accounts for twice as many women business owners than other sectors, gender gaps persist when it comes to labor participation, management roles and compensation.

Tourism officials in APEC are focused on promoting policies that foster gender smart work places. This includes childcare and checks on sexual harassment and violence to limit absenteeism, turnover and lost wages among women—and higher recruitment costs and talent shortages for employers.

Parallel attention is on the alignment of occupational skills standards, professional certifications and digital and financial literacy training to widen labor participation in tourism across APEC economies, in consultation with industry and community groups.

“The tourism sector is a catalyst for workforce inclusion given its dependence on micro and small businesses, which tend to offer more flexible entry and work arrangements,” noted Frederick Tamarua, Chair of the APEC Policy Partnership on Women and the Economy.

“Equipping men and women with competencies and social protections necessary to thrive throughout travel and tourism supply chains is an APEC priority,” Tamarua concluded. “New social awareness and digital tools are paving the way for real industry growth breakthroughs.”

PNG Father and Daughter Team Win The 2018 APEC App Challenge

The 2018 APEC App Challenge—a friendly but intense competition among the region’s most talented programmers—reached its exciting conclusion when the father-daughter duo from Papua New Guinea, Jonathan and Crystal Kewe, took the podium to accept First Prize from the APEC Judging Committee.

By combining Crystal’s programming acumen and Jonathan’s business and front-end design savvy, the Kewes developed Biluminous, an app designed to help local artisanal weavers of bilum—a culturally significant handicraft in Papua New Guinea—connect with more customers and grow their business.

“The APEC App Challenge provides an avenue for the creation of solutions that address real world problems,” Crystal Kewe said. “Papua New Guinea bilum weavers have suffered for a long time, and the app will really help.”

Programmer Crystal Kewe presents during the APEC App Challenge as her father Jonathan looks on.

All the winning solutions produced as a result of the APEC App Challenge serve as models for increased marketability for micro-entrepreneurs in informal economies—where talented and innovative makers have difficulty connecting to customers.

A pair of Australian developers, Venus Izadi and Kelly Benson, won Second Prize with their “Bilum Original” platform, which connects buyers and makers by combining a simple SMS interface with a sophisticated internal matchmaking algorithm.

Nguyen Duc Hiep and Ngo Minh Quoc Hung from Viet Nam won Third Prize, demonstrating an innovative blockchain solution to individually authenticate products produced locally and sold online.

The concepts generated during the 24-hour hackathon will likely have far-reaching effects for micro-entrepreneurs in Papua New Guinea and other informal economies.

“APEC officials are focused this year on enhancing digital prosperity throughout the region,” said Alan Bollard, the APEC Secretariat’s Executive Director. “The talent of these developers, their work and ultimately their creations are welcome contributions to the momentum of APEC meetings throughout this year in Port Moresby.”

According to Dr Bollard, the winning entries of the APEC App Challenge will not only help entrepreneurs expand the capacities of micro enterprises in Papua New Guinea. “By looking at the challenges that beset informal enterprises locally, participants have identified scalable concepts for online platforms,” he said. “These can potentially be used to grow informal economies in the Asia-Pacific region and around the world.”

Papua New Guinea’s trade officials have acknowledged the significance of the APEC App Challenge as a practical demonstration of the APEC 2018 theme of “Harnessing Opportunities, Embracing the Digital Future.”

“The APEC App Challenge shows that many people can benefit from the digital economy,” said Rimbink Pato, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Papua New Guinea.

“It gives real-world context to the important policy discussions we are having about how to enable the digital economy to grow and flourish.”

Pato added that the event will drive continued work in Papua New Guinea to advance e-commerce frameworks and regulations, including improving telecommunication infrastructure, lowering internet costs, and providing support for e-payment systems.

“Internet platforms help local artisans showcase their incredible talent and skills to APEC economies and the rest of the world,” said Karim Temsamani, President, Google Asia-Pacific.

“They help budding entrepreneurs find new opportunities and earn more income for their work,”

“Asia-Pacific is an extremely dynamic region, and micro- and small businesses here have huge potential,” he continued. “They need the opportunity to showcase their craft to the world, and online tools and platforms give them that chance.”

Despite lacking the opportunities afforded to developers from other parts of the world, the Kewes’ talent and determination led them to success in the APEC App Challenge. When the local classes Crystal attended as a student in Papua New Guinea weren’t challenging enough for her, Jonathan homeschooled her and sought alternative education opportunities to help his daughter expand her skills.

As a teenager, Crystal taught herself computer programming, and she and her father launched Crysan Technology, a software development company based in Port Moresby. Now 19, Crystal serves as the company’s chief technology officer and software architect while Jonathan is its managing director and UX/UI designer.

“The APEC App Challenge helps us understand the creative potential of the region,” said John Karr, senior director at The Asia Foundation, “and particularly the digital developers and designers who can build the region’s future.

“Crystal Kewe is a great example of this local capacity. This is the generation that is helping connect APEC entrepreneurs at every level of society to new opportunities to prosper and thrive in a global economy.”

Sea Park Pays For Sir Hubert Murray Stadium

NCDC City Manager Mr Bernard Kipit confirmed the financing arrangement for the construction of the K40 million Sir Hubert Murray Stadium through part sale of the Sea Park land for K35 million, while the shortfall of K5 million will be met through BSP financing.

Mr Kipit said that we have to be innovative in delivering much needed infrastructure for the City and particularly the incomplete stadium at the City Centre.

NCDC took over the incomplete Stadium and the contract with Curtain Bros; and executed new terms to resume the Stadium construction at the cost of K40 million. This will see the completion of the stadium with the fully fitted western grand stand, car parking, fencing and other ancillary works to enable the stadium to be fully operational, Mr Kipit added.

The buyer of the sea park land, Sea Park Development Limited, believed to be owned by an Australian based Chinese businessman Wilson Xue, will be required to invest at least K500 million under a covenant to transform the area. This is required to protect the investment around the Ela Beach and APEC Haus to convert the area as APEC Legacy precinct. City Manager also confirmed that the buyer has already made deposit of K7 million to seal the deal in addition to paying stamp duty of K1.75 million.

Mr Kipit said the second part of the sea park land that houses APEC Haus will remain owned by NCDC.

“Although we lost 4.19 ha of the land for the Stadium, NCDC is getting compensated with ownership of a new land in the water front known as Portion 2848 and in the process of securing ownership of another two parcels of land on the water front that will see NCDC’s stake increasing by about 8 folds,” Mr Kipit added.

“NCDC will soon unveil the plan for the second phase of Ela beach and how it intends to deliver the plan. We will announce it when the title is received,” City Manager said.

The stadium will be delivered fully completed before APEC.

City Manager assured the City Residents that Ela Beach precinct will be the master piece of infrastructure in our thrust of modernising the Port Moresby; and will be a hub for recreational and social activities and create true city vibe; day and night.