PNG win Oceania Cup rugby title in style

Papua New Guinea smacked Solomon Islands 58-19 to seal the Oceania Cup rugby title in style. The Pukpuks finished unbeaten in their three games in Port Moresby to go one better than their runners-up finish two years ago.

Tahiti finished runners-up after beating newcomers American Samoa 20-8 for their second win of the tournament, while Solomon Islands finished winless. The next Oceania Cup is in 2017.

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InterOil restarts drilling in PNG

InterOil Corp. proclaimed that the PRL-15 joint venture has commenced drilling a side-track well at the Antelope-4 site, as part of its appraisal campaign on the Elk-Antelope gas field in Papua New Guinea. The Antelope-4 appraisal had been deferred in May 2015 at a true vertical depth sub-sea of 2056m (6745ft), roughly 158m above the field gas water contact. Well operations, which restarted on 13 August, 2015, included the on-site preparation and testing of well-head equipment.

Consequently the operator, Total E&P PNG obtained approval from the PNG Department of Energy to re-enter the well. The side-track was initiated at a measured depth of 862m (2828ft). As at 1530 hours (PNG time) the side-track well was drilling ahead at a depth of 895m (2936ft). InterOil Corp.

is an independent oil and gas business with a sole focus on Papua New Guinea. InterOil's assets include one of Asia's largest undeveloped gas fields, Elk-Antelope, in the Gulf Province, and exploration licenses covering about 16,000sq km. The company employs more than 2000 staff and contractors. Its main offices are in Singapore and Port Moresby.

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Papua New Guinea Preparing to Host the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders’ Summit

Papua New Guinea is preparing to host the Pacific Islands Forum leaders’ summit and celebrate 40 years of independence from Australia this month (September). These events are destined to be a high point in an imperative year for Papua New Guinea, imbedding its prestige as regional leader among Pacific island states and a confident emerging economy. Relations with Australia, a significant backer of Papua New Guinea’s regional leadership drives and economic growth, should also be at a high point.

Papua New Guinea will host the 46th Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting from 07 to 11 September 2015. The schedule for the 46th Pacific Islands Forum and related meetings is as follows:

Monday 07 September 2015: Smaller Islands States Leaders Meeting

Tuesday 08 September 2015: Pacific ACP Leaders Meeting

Tuesday 08 September: Official Opening of the 46th Pacific Islands Forum

Wednesday 09 September: 46th Pacific Islands Forum Plenary Session

Thursday 10 September: Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Retreat

Friday 11 September: 27th Post-Forum Dialogue Partners Plenary Session

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PNG and India Discuss Resource Exports, Education and Healthcare Support, UN Security Council Membership

The Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, Peter O’Neill  has thanked the Prime Minister of India for extending support in healthcare and education to Pacific Island nations, and offered Papua New Guinea’s support to India for proposed reform of the United Nations Security Council that would include India as a permanent member.

The Prime Minister made the comments following a substantial bilateral meeting with his counterpart, the Prime Minister of India, Hon. Mahendra Modi, on the margins of the Forum for India-Pacific Cooperation meeting that was held in India on August 19-21.

Prime Minister Hon. Peter O’Neill said outcomes from meeting of the Prime Ministers of India and Papua New Guinea will lead to positive developments in important sectors of the economy. “It has been a long time since a Prime Minister of both countries have sat down and had talks about enhancing the relationship between the two countries,” Prime Minister Hon. Peter O’Neill said.

“The Prime Minister of India was very cordial and supported the fact that India is going to continue to increase is engagement with the Pacific, and especially with Papua New Guinea, because of our large economy, large population and the potential that Papua New Guinea has to offer. “India is the fourth largest economy in the world with a big market for Papua New Guinean resources, agriculture and tourism and other sectors.” There are strong economy synergies between the two countries with India requiring resources that Papua New Guinea can offer.

“India is in great need for many for many of the resources that we have particularly oil and gas, and copper and gold. “These are resources that are fuelling the growth of the Indian economy and Papua New Guinea has not been exporting many of these products to India for a long time as many of our customers are from elsewhere.

“Prime Minister Modi has expressed his interest to engage in resources trade and also encourage Indian investment to come into Papua New Guinea to invest in agriculture, in nonrenewable energy and in infrastructure.

“The Indian Government will agree to provide funding of those infrastructure projects through EXIM Bank of India at very favourable rates to the Papua New Guinea Government.

On the other side of the relationship, India is able to provide professional capacity building in Papua New Guinea in areas such as education and healthcare. “Papua New Guinea expressed its appreciation for many of the Indian professionals that have been sent to Papua New Guinea to work, particularly in health and education.

“Our ongoing relationship, and co-operation between the defence forces and many of our officers who come here for defence force training colleges in India, has been beneficial. “We agreed to increase the number of these personnel and that India will help us build our capacity within the public service machinery, particularly in naval bases and naval forces.” As well as an increase in the number of Indian professionals coming to Papua New Guinea, the Prime Minister said there will also be an increase in the number of Papua New Guineans studying in India.

“Prime Minister Modi has stated that they are willing to increase the number of spaces that are available for Papua New Guinean students in India and we are going to formalise that very soon. “These are in both medical and other fields and India is very happy to support us particularly in specialised areas of medical training.”

Finally, Prime Minister Hon. Peter O’Neill said that Papua New Guinea will support India’s desire to have a stronger voice at the United Nations. “Papua New Guinea has agreed to support India’s bid for permanent United Nations Security Council membership.

“It is important that a developing country, which has the second largest population in the region of 1.2 billion Indians, representing one-sixth of the world’s population to be included in United Nations Security Council as a permanent member.

“Papua New Guinea and many of the other Pacific Island leaders agreed to express their support.” Attending the meeting with the Prime Minister was Hon. William Duma, Governor Sasindran Muthuvel, Hon. Richard Maru, Hon. Byron Chan.

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Oil Search sitting pretty to buy Santos assets in PNG

Oil Search is eyeing some of Santos' assets in Papua New Guinea for potential acquisition, including its stake in the $US19 billion ($26 billion) PNG LNG project, as it looks to take advantage of its balance sheet and the low oil price environment to add high-quality assets in its home market.

Managing director Peter Botten said Santos, which has all its assets under review, had "a number of potentially interesting assets" for Oil Search.

But he said the company would be "very disciplined" over the price it would pay, especially given uncertainty about the future direction of oil prices, which have hit six-year lows.Any sale by Santos of its 13.5 per cent stake in PNG LNG could in any case trigger pre-emptive rights by the existing partners, giving Oil Search the opportunity to increase its stake in the venture.

PNG LNG "is a quality high returning asset, and it can be readily valued", Mr Botten said after Oil Search posted a 49 per cent jump in first-half profit thanks to a full six months of production from that venture, which started up last year."The issue comes back again to potential differential between a seller's expectations on oil prices and a buyer's expectations on oil prices."

Credit Suisse values Santos' stake in PNG LNG at about $4 billion, which Mr Botten signalled would be too big for Oil Search to consider by itself, suggesting a partial acquisition through a pre-emptive right might be more likely."We don't necessarily have to be proactive," he told The Australian Financial Review.

Oil Search tripled its interim dividend to US6¢ after posting record first-half profit of $US227.5 million, broadly in line with consensus. Sales surged 69 per cent to $US863.8 million as the production contribution from PNG LNG more than offset sharply lower oil and LNG prices. Net operating cash flow more than doubled.

'Lower for longer'

Oil Search had $US1.59 billion of cash and available debt at June 30.The stock climbed 0.86 per cent to $5.84, compared with a 0.1 per cent rise in the energy index.Mr Botten said Oil Search was planning for a "lower for longer" scenario for oil prices, suggesting prices might plateau in the $US50-60 a barrel range, well below the $US100 or so that prevailed until mid-2014.

But at that price, both the expansion of PNG LNG and the proposed Papua LNG project would still be "extremely viable", he said. The ventures would both be well placed to sell into an LNG market facing a potential shortfall of supplies early next decade, especially as less economic rival projects were shelved, he said.

Mr Botten suggested a timing of end-2017 for a final investment decision to add a third LNG train at PNG LNG, while a go-ahead for Papua LNG, where the gas resource is still being appraised, looked more likely for 2018.

Citigroup analyst Dale Koenders said the timing for Oil Search's LNG expansion seemed to be "slipping", which he said was to be expected given current oil prices.The slump in the oil price has still put pressure on Oil Search to cut costs, and the company is targeting operating and capital unit cost reductions of up to 20 per cent from 2016.

He said Oil Search was aiming to cut $US2.50 to $US3.50 a barrel from the costs of its operated oil and gas production, which was just under $US16 a barrel of oil equivalent in the first half. Cost reductions of between 10 to 25 per cent are coming through after negotiations with major suppliers, with more to come in the second half.

At the same time, investment is continuing in exploration, with drilling targeting 6 trillion to 7 trillion cubic feet of gas planned over the next 18 months to feed growth. Capex for the full 2015 year have actually been increased, to between $US610 million and $US690 million.

The PNG LNG venture is running above rated capacity, contributing 10.94 million boe of production in the June half, up from 1.87 million boe a year earlier, when it was only just starting up.

That meant Oil Search's LNG and gas revenues surged more than five-fold to $US598.6 million despite the average realised price falling 28 per cent to $US10.19 per million British thermal units.The oil price almost halved, to $US56.64 a barrel, driving down revenues from oil and condensate sales by 38 per cent.

"They're going very well in a hard climate," said Anna Kassianos at Platypus Asset Management. "They probably have the opportunity to capitalise on this environment."

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Govt examining PNG vegetable ban

THE federal government is seeking to clarify whether Papua New Guinea's recent import ban on fresh vegetables complies with global trade rules. PNG instituted the ban earlier in August with the aim of helping local enterprises.

"We are seeking to further clarify the PNG government's reasons for the ban, including whether these are World Trade Organisation consistent," an agriculture department spokesman told AAP on Wednesday. Items affected include Irish potatoes, bulb onions, cabbages, carrots, tomatoes, capsicums, pumpkins, peas, zucchini, eggplant, pak choi, French beans, lettuce and celery.

The spokesman said the ban is in effect until biosecurity protocols are established. Australia has been a safe and reliable supplier of fresh produce to PNG for a number of years without biosecurity issues, he said.

Australian produce exports to PNG totalled $3.8 million in 2014-15. The department is in talks with its PNG counterparts to have the ban removed as soon as possible. Horticultural body AUSVEG said it was concerned about the unexpected nature of the ban.

The timing will impact Queensland growers now in season, with southern state producers likely to be affected later in the year, it said. Australian vegetables commanded a premium price in PNG and were usually destined for the retail sector and expatriate-staffed industries such as mining.

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PNG will cancel contracts of Australians advising government, says Peter O'Neill

Papua New Guinea will boot out Australian officials working for its government by the end of the year.The Prime Minister, Peter O’Neill, told the PNG parliament he was concerned about foreign advisers spying while their presence caused local public servants to slack off.

O’Neill’s shock statement came during a debate on PNG’s national intelligence organisation, the ABC reported.

“We’ve got people working in many of our departments that are working as advisers and it has led to two things,” he said.

“One is making our own people quite lazy. They’re not able to take over civil decisions, they are over-dependent on consultants and advisers and sometimes many of those decisions are not ... in the best interests of our nation.

“So our government has taken a deliberate decision that by the end of the year, all foreign consultants and advisers, their contracts will end by 31st of December.”

Several hundred Australians work with the PNG government, many as part of Australia’s $500m aid program.

O’Neill singled out the 70-odd Australian federal police officers working in the country, the ABC said.

“If we need to recruit experts, it will be recruited by PNG government as an employee of the PNG government,” he said. “That includes policemen, that includes all the other consultants in every line department.”

The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade declined to address O’Neill’s comments directly, but said in a statement: “We have a strong partnership with the government of Papua New Guinea and our development program reflects the priorities agreed to by our two governments.

“We regularly discuss with PNG concerns that they have with our support and how we can achieve the most effective development outcomes through our aid program. Australian advisers are selected in consultation with the government of Papua New Guinea working to priorities which are jointly agreed.”

PNG police have been angered by the removal from the country in July of three Australian workers at the Manus Island detention centre whom they want to interview in relation to the alleged drugging and raping of a female PNG colleague.

The Manus Island police commander, Alex N’Drasal, threatened to arrest detention centre managers on Thursday if the men were not returned, but the deadline passed without any apparent action being taken.

It is unclear if the steps against Australian advisers have any connection to the Manus dispute.

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Catch a glimpse of the rare mollusc in PNG

An exceptional mollusc, hitherto feared extinct, has been recently discovered at the coast of Papua New Guinea. Environmentalist Peter Ward returned from the South Pacific in early August with news that he had encountered what he deliberates to be the world’s rarest animal. The University of Washington professor was part of the innovative discovery team that first found Allonautilus scrobiculatus, a“fuzzy, slimy” mollusc with an iconic twirled shell that's sometimes mentioned to as the crunchy nautilus, 31 years ago. It hasn't been spotted in nearly three decades – until now.

When Mr. Ward returned to the area this summer, he and his colleagues feared the “living fossil” had maybe gone extinct, endangered as they are by shell hunting, and environmental changes. He was delighted to catch another glimpse of the rare mollusc. With the understanding that nautiluses are superior searchers, the research team submerged bait – fish and chicken – between 500 and 1,300 feet below the sea surface, and filmed the action around the lure in 12 hour increments. When the nautilus first seemed on the biologists’ screen this past July, the creature had not been spotted since 1986.

“We not only found them, we captured the first digital images of them alive in the wild, and attached tracking devices that are revealing some of the oldest and deepest secrets of their survival,” Ward wrote in a guest blog post for National Geographic.

Ward and a colleague first discovered the rare critter off of Papua New Guinea's Ndrova Island. Nautiluses are small, distant cousins of squid and cuttlefish from an ancient lineage whose shells appear over the fossil record over a 500 million year period. Ward says this summer’s sighting means that there is still more to learn about these creatures.

Illegal fishing and “mining” operations for nautilus shells have already ruined some populations, Ward said. In September, the US Fish and Wildlife Service will decide whether to advocate for nautiluses to become a protected species under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wildlife.

“As it stands now, nautilus mining could cause nautiluses to go extinct,” said Ward. “This could be the rarest animal in the world. We need to know if Allonautilus is anywhere else, and we won’t know until we go out there and look.”

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PM O’Neill looks to Greater India Engagement with Pacific Islands

The Prime Minister, Hon. Peter O’Neill CMG MP, has outlined Papua New Guinea’s desire to see greater engagement by India with Pacific Island nations. Speaking at the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Co-operation (FIPIC) in Jaipur city, he said India’s outreach to Pacific Islands Leaders, led by Prime Minster Modi, is the first of its kind by an Indian leader or government. “I want to assure you that India has true friends in the Pacific and we appreciate the interest you show in our region,” PM O’Neill said at the Leaders’ meeting.

“We will foster mutual understanding and appreciation of the challenges faced by both Pacific Island and Indian communities. “We hope that India, as a growing global economic power will appreciate the aspirations of the Pacific people and continue to work with our respective Governments.” The Prime Minister said Pacific island nations face many challenges that include climate change, natural disasters and improving healthcare and education, and this provides a basis for working together. “On climate change, between Asia and the Pacific we must have a collective voice,” PM O’Neill said to counterpart Leaders.

“We must seek global action to deal with the impact of climate change on our communities.

“Natural disasters are also an ongoing concern and we have experienced devastating tropical storms and flooding this year around the Pacific. “Now we are facing hardship from a strong el Niño weather pattern. “Disaster management will be an important issue for discussion when our island nations meet in Port Moresby next month for the Pacific Islands’ Forum Leaders’ Meeting.” The Prime Minister said as a world leader in the development of cutting-edge technologies, it is important that India engage with the Pacific to expand the use of emerging IT. “We are pleased that the Indian Government is prepared to share information technology knowledge and experience with its development partners.

“The Indian Government’s initiative for the Pan Pacific e-Network Project is indeed timely for Pacific Islands countries. “Through improved connectivity and coordination, services such as tele-education and tele-medicine can reach remote communities.” Finally, the Prime Minister took note of the successful marketing campaigns that have been undertaken to promote trade and investment in India. “We have seen the Indian Government’s campaign to ‘Make in India,’ alongside initiatives such as ‘Digital India’ and ‘Skill India.’ These successful programs have created awareness of the value India has to offer the global business community.

“Perhaps there is scope for island nations to learn from India, to work together to develop a Made in the Pacific Islands branding and identity program.” The FIPIC took place in Delhi and Jaipur, during August 19-21, and was attended by Leaders, Ministers and delegates from India and 14 Pacific Islands nations.

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Best Practice in Tourism Development – Shared Attributes for Developing Indian and Papua New Guinea Tourism

The Prime Minister, Hon. Peter O’Neill CMG MP, has highlighted the way in which India has developed a strong cross-sectoral approach to strengthen its tourism industry.

PM O’Neill made the comments following a visit to the World heritage listed Taj Mahal in the Indian city of Agra, and a briefing from India’s Tourism Ministry.

“While our nations are different in population and landmass, India and Papua New Guinea share common attributes that are important for developing a strong tourism industry.

“India is a developing country that has worked to meet many of the logistical challenges that need to be overcome to bring visitors from around the world.

“Both countries have very rich and diverse cultures that are of great interest to foreign visitors.

“This includes different cultural practices, music, food and dancing. “We both also have stunning coastlines and islands, as well as inland mountainous areas that are spectacular.”

The Prime Minister said a significant way through which India has expanded tourism is by engaging with small and medium enterprises.

“India has achieved great success in the way it has developed a tourism sector that works with millions of SMEs. “As our tourism sector grows in Papua New Guinea, SMEs are essential to our success.

“We must develop the right ways for SMEs to engage in our tourism operations. “This includes a large range of businesses from the provision of transportation, tour guides, art production and operating retail stores.

“Papua New Guinea has many features that already attract tourists from around the world and we must grow this industry. “From the very large backpacker market through to family holidays, and niche tourists such as people seeking adventure travel or fishing, we have a lot to offer.

“The aviation sector in India has also been opened to greater competition which has brought with it a lowering of the cost of travel. “This directly increases the number of youth and family tourists who are able to visit the country as well as increasing domestic travel.

“We take note of the challenges and successes experienced by India in bringing the world to its shores and developing a very strong tourism sector.”

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Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea arrives in India for FIPIC Summit

Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, Hon’ble Peter O’Neill arrived in New Delhi, India on August 18, 2015. The Prime Minister along with a high level delegation arrived at Hotel Taj Palace in the evening. The Prime Minister then attended a dinner hosted by Essar Group of Companies.

Prime Minister, Peter O’Neill in his maiden visit to India visited Rajghat on the morning of August 19, 2015 where he laid a wreath at the Gandhi memorial and paid homage to the Father of the Nation. He then attended a lunch hosted by the Angelique Group, which is involved in a number of projects in Papua New Guinea. After the dinner, the Prime Minister attended a meeting with Indian government owned, ONGC Group Ltd, GAIL India Ltd. and other companies.

ONGC reiterated that it is very interested in investing and exploring in any oil and gas projects in Papua New Guinea. ONGC Videsh, which has its presence in almost 17 countries, including countries in Latin America and other parts of the world. The company is now planning to invest and run projects in the Pacific nation.

Prime Minister, Hon’ble Peter O’Neill expressed his gratitude to the companies extending their hands to invest in his nation. The Prime Minister welcomed the companies who wish to come and invest in Papua New Guinea. He stressed upon the energy capacity of his country and shared with the representatives a number of projects in oil and gas running successfully in PNG.

Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister and Head of States and Head of Governments from 13 other nations are here in India on the invitation of Indian Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi to attend the Forum for India-Pacific Island Cooperation, which will be held on August 21, 2015 in Jaipur. The 14 nations including PNG are: Cook Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Nauru, Kiribati, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Samoa, Niue, Palau, Micronesia, Marshall Islands and Fiji. The delegations from most of the nations have arrived in India few days prior to the event for some pre-summit events. The summit is aimed at fostering India-Pacific ties.

The Prime Minister will be attending a banquet hosted by the Ministry of External Affairs and will then be leaving for Agra on August 20, 2015 for a day trip where he will meet representatives from the Ministry of Tourism. The delegation will then leave for Jaipur on the morning of August 21, 2015, where the delegation would meet Shri Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India.

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McCully to lead NZ delegation to PNG, Solomons

New Zealand's Foreign Minister Murray McCully is to travel to Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands this week leading a delegation of aid officials and business people.

The companies travelling with the delegation represent a range of sectors including energy, infrastructure development, and broadcasting, as well as regional business organisations.

In Port Moresby Mr McCully says he will meet with PNG's Prime Minister Peter O'Neill and other ministers to discuss bilateral cooperation and regional issues, including PNG's hosting of this year's Pacific Islands Forum summit and New Zealand's support for their hosting of APEC in 2018.

Mr McCully says the visit to Honiara will be his first opportunity to meet with Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare since he came to power late last year.

The talks are to focus on Honiara's plans for economic development, particularly in the fisheries and tourism sectors.

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PM says PNG economy is stable

The prime minister of Papua New Guinea has hit out at warnings by economists about the country's fiscal position This follows the release of his own government's mid-year economic outlook, which revised the 2015 budget deficit from 4.4 percent of GDP to 9.4 percent, with revenue set to shrink by 20 percent this year. A former Australian official within PNG's treasury, Paul Flanagan, led the chorus of economists warning that the Peter O'Neill-led government must make tough choices about spending cuts or face a Greece-style fiscal meltdown.

Mr O'Neill has dismissed them as critics with vested interests - who are talking about potential scenarios that would only eventuate if his government did not attend to global economic challenges.

He said the PNG economy was stable and robust enough to ride out the current dip in commodity prices.

He has emphasised that, unlike many other countries, PNG has good cover in foreign exchange reserves - and that most of its debt is domestic.

He said cuts would be made to non-priority areas but not health, education, law and order, and infrastructure.

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PNG Govt working on new media law

A proposed law on a cross media ownership is currently being worked on by the government of Papua New Guinea.

Minister responsible for Communication Jimmy Miringtoro said the law will allow Papua New Guineans to own shares in the media organisations in the country.

He told Parliament during Question Time last week that foreign companies have come into the country to invest in mobile phones but had ventured into television, broadcasting, print media and other Information Communication Technology (ICT) industries.

Miringtoro said Papua New Guineans are losing out in this very lucrative industry because they do not have any ownership.

“In this vaccuum, I have given directions to my department to work on cross media ownership law.

“There is a team in place now working with my department to draw up a policy that will go to cabinet.

“Once the cabinet approves, it will go to a committee for normal legislative processes to take its course which finally it will come to the floor of parliament,” he said.

He assured the people of PNG that once the law comes into effect, PNG will have some degree of ownership in this country which means that the law will allow them to certain percentages of shares either through the respective level of the Government or through normal business acquisition.

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PNG to Review Policing Partnership

Australian assistance money to Papua New Guinea is being wasted on "middlemen", such as lawyers and consultants, PNG Prime Minister Peter O'Neill says. In a press release, Mr O'Neill said PNG wanted to safeguard that financial support develops real long-term capacity and skills, and not just temporary relief.

"As a developing country we don't want handouts, we don't want Australian taxpayer money wasted and we don't want boomerang aid. Papua New Guinea is changing, we are growing and as a nation of 8 million people we want to move beyond handouts and work with our partners to strengthen capacity," he said.

The prime minister also said there needs to be a better deal for the taxpayers of contributing countries like Australia, saying that one of the biggest obstacles to effective support were middlemen who take commissions on aid expenditure.

"Development assistance has become a billion dollar 'industry' where so much of the goodwill ends up in the pockets of middlemen and expensive consultants," Mr O'Neill said.
"I wonder if the people of Australia realise how much of the money they give to help Papua New Guinea and other countries is actually paid to middlemen and lawyers."

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said the two countries regularly discuss how to achieve the most effective development outcomes for PNG with Australia's support. Aid Watch director Thulsi Narayanasamy lately stressed that aid focusing on tackling corruption may in fact be "benefitting" from ongoing corruption in PNG.

"Australia has done nothing to bring these companies to account ... despite them being Australian. We would see that as Australia benefitting off the corruption in PNG."

In the statement, Mr O'Neill stressed that he believes better arrangements were possible and was looking to implement them. The prime minster added that PNG would review its current support arrangements, and regulate how money and capacity building can be implemented more efficiently. Mr O'Neill suggested funding positions for PNG citizens to occupy in government to be a better alternative than simply sending foreign advisers to fill the positions themselves.

"The current support delivery sees foreigners occupying positions where they are actually doing the work that should be done by Papua New Guineans," he said.

"This is not good for Papua New Guinea or the donor country ... as when they end their contracts they do not leave behind capacity or skills."

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