Papua New Guinea welcomes foreign investment and encourages investment in areas that process local resources and produce manufactured products of export and import substitution/replacement. Papua New Guinea is referred to as a tiger economy of the Pacific, a land of opportunities with the average economic growth of 5.4% per annum over the past 10 years. It is amongst the world’s fastest growing economies and the overall future outlook is generally positive. Within the next few years Papua New Guinea will require significant foreign direct investment in areas such as health, education, business services and infrastructure development.
The extractive resource industries are leading the way in investment and high commodity prices have stimulated economic activities and are making increasingly significant contribution to the economy which in turn offers significant growth potential in areas such as agriculture, tourism, fisheries, forestry, manufacturing, construction and the services sector.
Strategies to strengthen this economic growth include re-investing in key enablers such as infrastructure, health and education to maximise opportunities for our citizens.
English is the language of government, business and instruction. The local law is derived from the English common law. Papua New Guinea and United Kingdom have a strong trade and investment relationship, supported by significant historical ties, similarities in legal framework and by being members of the Commonwealth of Nations and the EU/ACP countries.
For UK investors opportunities abound in areas such as the services sector, management of large funds, retail investment products and manufacturing and education. Given the current reforms in the education and health sectors these areas are expected to be the major focus of attention by the current government. This is not to discount the fact that there are also investment opportunities available in other sectors – mining, oil and gas, renewable green technologies, tourism, agriculture, fisheries,forestry and infrastructure.
Further information on investment opportunities can be found on Investment Promotion Authority website: www.ipa.gov.pg