ABOUT 750 people attended the opening of the three-day PNG Mining and Petroleum Conference yesterday in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea Chamber of Mine and Petroleum president Gerea Aopi says.
Aopi was the first speaker at the conference that had presentations focused on the both LNG and mining industry on the first day.
“I am happy to report that over 750 delegates have registered and we have 38 exhibits,” Aopi said.
“2017 marks over 23 years that the chamber has hosted this premier resource industry conference, alternating between Sydney and Port Moresby and attracting a wide array of international delegates, especially from the Asia-Pacific region.”
Aopi also gave a brief on the current state of petroleum and mining industry in Papua New Guinea while calling for a “conservative strategy” going forward on the back of an apparent economic recovery.
“The nation’s economy felt the severe shocks of the fall in both the petroleum and mining sectors and the PNG economy felt the numbing impact of falling commodity prices across multiple sectors,” he said.
“I believe we can now see a clearer way forward as commodity prices head out of cyclical downturn. In recent weeks prices have improvedfor key export commodities such as copper, gold, nickel and cobalt.
“The petroleum sector has survived an especially tough few years with weak demand and low prices. Although there are signs of recovery, these improvements will probably be slow and very unlikely to reach the sort of prices Papua New Guinea has witnessed in years prior to 2014.”
Aopi said the signs of improvement in global commodity prices required Papua New Guinea to maintain a conservative approach and continue the strategy to diversify the economy.
Aopi was the first speaker at the conference that had presentations focused on the both LNG and mining industry on the first day.
“I am happy to report that over 750 delegates have registered and we have 38 exhibits,” Aopi said.
“2017 marks over 23 years that the chamber has hosted this premier resource industry conference, alternating between Sydney and Port Moresby and attracting a wide array of international delegates, especially from the Asia-Pacific region.”
Aopi also gave a brief on the current state of petroleum and mining industry in Papua New Guinea while calling for a “conservative strategy” going forward on the back of an apparent economic recovery.
“The nation’s economy felt the severe shocks of the fall in both the petroleum and mining sectors and the PNG economy felt the numbing impact of falling commodity prices across multiple sectors,” he said.
“I believe we can now see a clearer way forward as commodity prices head out of cyclical downturn. In recent weeks prices have improvedfor key export commodities such as copper, gold, nickel and cobalt.
“The petroleum sector has survived an especially tough few years with weak demand and low prices. Although there are signs of recovery, these improvements will probably be slow and very unlikely to reach the sort of prices Papua New Guinea has witnessed in years prior to 2014.”
Aopi said the signs of improvement in global commodity prices required Papua New Guinea to maintain a conservative approach and continue the strategy to diversify the economy.
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