FOSTERING BUSINESS, INVESTMENT, TRADE AND TOURISM IN AMAZING PORT MORESBY
NCD GOVERNOR PARKOP WRITES:
This afternoon I leave for Ghuanzhou via Hong Kong to join Minister Schnaubelt, our Minister for Transport and Civil Aviation to join the inaugural China Southern Airlines flight to Port Moresby on 19th arriving on 20th December. This is an initiative we have been equally pushing in the City under our global branding Amazing Port Moresby, to promote business, investment, trade links and more importantly for Port Moresby tourism. I acknowledge the leadership of our Prime Minister, Minister for Transport and Civil Aviation, Minister for International Trade and Investment Hon Richard Maru.
Ghuanzhou is the capital of Guandong Province. This Province is the industrial heart land of China and its GDP is bigger than the entire Russian Federation. It has a population of 120million and it accounts for 60 percent of the tourist from China, now the world biggest tourist market.
China Southern Airlines is one of the two biggest Airlines in China and is among the top 5 in the world. It has 920 jets flying all around the world daily and it has been flying to Australia and New Zealand for quite some times now. Apart from improving the trade and other links with China it is my opinion that once we have China Southern Airlines on board we can invite them to take out at least 40 percent stake in Air Niugini while we sell 10 percent to the Super Funds. This is the best way to recapitalise Air Niugini rather the usual passing the burden to the public to pay.
This is a model Fiji Airlines has adopted with Qantas and New Zealand Air taking out 49 percent, making it a viable and profitable airline. Our goal under our branding Amazing Port Moresby global branding is to tap on the tourist market of Guangdong and China generally. But tourists coming to Port Moresby and on to the Provinces also need a reliable domestic airline to guarantee tourist return on time to take their international connections. A deal with China Southern as I am proposing will be a real goer as any loss or hiccups in Air Niugini either domestic or international will no be a problem to China Airlines. They can underwrite any initial and occasional hiccups. It will be a real deal. I will be pushing for this deal and mechanism for recapitalisation of Air Niugini. We can’t keep on doing same thing expecting a different outcome.