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Despite significant challenges linked to poor infrastructure, inadequate credit information and a largely rural population, commercial lenders are developing innovative means of broadening the sector’s reach. Framed by the government and the country’s central bank, the National Financial Inclusion and Financial Literacy Strategy encourages private banks, microfinance institutions, non-bank financial institutions and savings and loans societies to partner with non-financial actors to bridge the gap to access. Ongoing upgrades to Papua New Guinea’s financial infrastructure will improve banks’ efficiency and support alternative means of reaching out to low-income clients. Although lending growth is expected to cool in line with the wider economy in 2014, bankers have their eyes set on significant public infrastructure spending to sustain their loan books. Financial institutions are making progress in terms of providing services to PNGs unbanked population and lenders’ role as financial intermediaries is growing. Seeing through reforms will be key to making the financial system more efficient and broad-based. This chapter contains interviews with Loi M Bakani, Governor, Bank of Papua New Guinea; Mark Baker, Managing Director, ANZ Papua New Guinea; and Tony Westaway, Managing Director, Nationwide Microbank.

Buoyed by high commodity export revenues and, since 2009 the development of the Papua New Guinea Liquefied Natural Gas project, GDP growth has remained above 6% since 2007, reaching 8.9% in 2011 and 8.1% in 2012. A heavyweight among the Pacific Island states, PNG, together with Fiji, accounted for 80% of regional GDP in 2013, as per UN figures. Agriculture, fisheries and forestry made up the largest part of the economy at 29% in 2012, while the construction sector accounted for 20% of GDP and the mining, oil and extractive industries were responsible for 15%. For investors, any project worth more than $50m could qualify for a public-private partnership (PPP) structure; however, the government has been emphasising the potential for PPPs in the power generation and transport sectors. While attracting private investment will depend on the successful implementation of public sector reforms, the authorities will need to strike a balance between encouraging investment and the need to protect domestic enterprise. This chapter contains interviews with James Marape, Minister of Finance; Charles Abel, Minister for National Planning; Wasantha Kumarasiri, Managing Director, Independent Public Business Corporation; and Geoff Cundle, Managing Director, Steamships Trading Company.

Although lower international commodity prices are impacting the pipeline of projects in the traditionally dominant mining sector, Papua New Guinea’s emergence as a major liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter in 2014 has attracted global attention, with a second landmark LNG project moving towards a final investment decision in 2016. Construction of the PNG LNG project has increased the country’s profile in recent years, with investment inflows of more than $5.7bn between 2009 and 2013. While Australia remains the largest investor in the country, with $17.86bn in 2013, Japan has been the fastest-growing source of investment in recent years. Changes to PNG’s trade patterns mirror the growing diversity in the sources of inward investment. The country is the largest exporter among Pacific Island states and, with China and the Association of South-East Asian Nations trying to assert their influence in the region, the time to focus on building a stable and integrated trade route within the South Pacific has never been more important. This chapter contains interviews with Julie Bishop, Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs; Andris Piebalgs, EU Commissioner for Development; Carlos Pascual, Former Special Envoy & Coordinator for International Affairs, US Bureau of Energy Resources; and Ivan Pomaleu, Managing Director, Investment Promotion Authority.

Featuring an interview with Cesar Cheng Vargas, president, Deloitte Colombia, this chapter explores recent changes to Colombia’s tax system implemented in 2013, touching on areas such as corporate income taxes and reorganisations, tax havens, capital gains taxes and value-added taxes, among others.

In conjunction with prietocarrizosa, this chapter outlines the substantial changes Colombia’s legal framework has undergone in recent years, affecting an array of areas such as public-private partnerships, dispute resolution and simplified stock corporations. Additional reforms are expected in other areas such as health care and social security over the coming years. This chapter features an interview with Martín Carrizosa, Founding Partner, prietocarrizosa.