Dede Sophie

Papua New Guinea’s National flag carrier, Air Niugini has performed exceptionally well in delivering its schedule, outperforming many airlines in Australia and the Pacific. In June Air Niugini operated 2,260 flights with 2,104 of those serving the domestic market. Air Niugini Outperformed other Airlines in the Pacific in Schedule Delivery  [Photo by Air Niugini] When compared with key airlines in Australia for the month of June, Air Niugini’s on time departure performance (flights leaving within 15 minutes of the scheduled departure time) sat at 82% as compared with Qantas at 58.7% and Virgin Australia with 59.8%  The cancellation rate for Air Niugini for June was 3.8% while Qantas cancelled 7.5% of all their services and Virgin Australia cancelling 5.8% of their flights. Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Bruce Alabaster said “It’s not easy ensuring schedule integrity and with the difficult conditions under which we operate here in PNG that places further pressure on our schedule. “ “I co

The Papua New Guinea Parliament passed a landmark legislation  when it unanimously voted for the National Trade Bill 2023. I had the honour of introducing the National Trade Policy and the SME Policy and Master Plan in 2017 as the Trade Minister and I was honoured to present the National Trade Bill 2023 today as the Minister for International Trade and Investment. This National Trade Bill 2023 is one of the most important laws in terms of trade and investment because it is set out to achieving the PNG Vision 2050 which specifically notes the importance of diversifying the economy by promoting and expanding trade and investment in the country. The Bill seeks to address the need for the anchorage of the trade policy function of the government, as well as giving the legal mandate to the newly established National Trade Office to carry out its powers and functions as envisioned under the Trade Policy. The Bill serves to clearly define the functions of the Ministry and the trade policy admi

PNG  Prime Minister   James Marape says he is surprised to read an investigative report published by foreign media on alleged financial transactions involving former senior managers of PNG Ports and an Australian businessman PM Marape says he also has no knowledge of the alleged financial transactions or the relationships between former senior management of PNG Ports, the PNG Ports operator International Container Terminal Services International (ICTSI) or Australian businessman Don Matheson as mentioned in the report circulated. A joint investigative report was published on March 2 by Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on a Manila-based multinational ports operator, ICTSI, that allegedly transferred funds into Matheson’s Singapore company account that then paid perks to senior officials of PNG Ports. The Prime Minister said the report, published and circulated online, had nothing to do with him as he had no knowledge