Economy

With a strong economy in recent years, the GDP growth rate rose to a high of 8.9% in 2011, after stagnating in the early 2000s, only to fall back in 2013 to around 5% and then rise again to more than 8.4% in 2014. Construction work on the Papua New Guinea liquefied natural gas (LNG) project led to the economic boom in 2011, while the slowdown was the result of the end of that phase and the hiatus before the start of production. Despite the positive impact that the PNG LNG project is expected to have, the price of LNG has been falling along with commodities worldwide, and this will feed through to PNG’s returns in the near term. The key for the country is the development of the infrastructure and the non-minerals sectors, which will require careful spending and a measured, but proactive, policy.

This chapter contains a viewpoint from Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan; and interviews with James Marape, Minister of Finance; Wapu Sonk, Managing Director, National Petroleum Company; James Lau, Managing Director, Rimbunan Hijau (PNG) Group; Ben Micah, Minister for Public Enterprises & State Investments; and Frederick Reiher, Chairman, Air Niugini.