The Prime Minister of Australia and Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea met to announce the Papua New Guinea Port Investment Program between Australia, Papua New Guinea and PNG Ports Corporation Limited (PNGPCL), building on a Memorandum of Understanding agreed between the parties in June last year.

Ports are critical for connectivity and economic growth in Papua New Guinea, which relies heavily on coastal trade and maritime access to essential goods and services. Australia’s investment includes an upgrade of Lae Port – Papua New Guinea’s largest – to position it as a premier transhipment hub for the Pacific, benefiting not only Papua New Guinea, but the region.

The investment will improve trade and connectivity in the region and help with Papua New Guinea’s longer-term development as well as its immediate COVID-19 recovery, building on Australia’s long track record of delivering quality infrastructure in Papua New Guinea.

Papua New Guinea Port repairs and upgrades to improve trade, connectivity and commercial capacity | Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Minister for Women (archived link)

For more information contact aiffp@dfat.gov.au

*Updated AUD figure based on exchange rate: 1.0AUD/0.70USD

The East Micronesia Cable Project will connect Kosrae (FSM), Nauru and Tarawa (Kiribati) to the existing HANTRU-1 cable at Pohnpei (FSM) and provide faster, higher quality, and more reliable and secure internet connectivity to these countries.

Australia, through the Australian Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific (AIFFP), is partnering with Japan and the United States to provide financing and implementation support to the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Kiribati, and Nauru for this Project.

Improved connectivity and access to digital technologies can provide significant economic and social benefits and are key enablers of sustainable development. They also help increase the availability of digital government services, particularly in education and health, and provide businesses and households with improved access to services, information and trade, and employment opportunities.

This project adds to Australia’s portfolio of investments in the critical telecommunications sector, which also includes the Coral Sea Cable System, the Palau Submarine Cable and the front-end engineering design for the Timor-Leste South Sea Cable.

Improving East Micronesia telecommunications connectivity | Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Minister for Women (archived link)

For more information contact aiffp@dfat.gov.au

Australia, through the Australian Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific, has signed a FJD106 million (AUD68 million) investment in Airports Fiji Pte Ltd (AFL). The Australian investment, alongside ANZ Fiji, will help fund capital works at Nadi International and other outer islands’ airports, refinance existing debt, and address several infrastructure priorities of Fiji Airports Limited.

The financing utilises AIFFP’s guarantee mechanism to facilitate a Fijian Dollar denominated loan by co-lending with ANZ.

The return of international tourists is vital to Fiji’s economic recovery. Support provided by AIFFP and ANZ Fiji will ensure that once international travel reconvenes, Fiji and neighbouring islands will be ready to welcome travellers.  

AFL is a Fijian state-owned enterprise, highly prized by the Fijian Government, and the primary provider of commercial airport services in Fiji. The financing provided by the AIFFP and ANZ will facilitate economic growth and prosperity by boosting local tourism infrastructure, increasing local jobs in Fiji and provide an aviation hub for the Pacific at the Nadi International Airport. 

For more information, contact aiffp@dfat.gov.au or visit:

• Supporting tourism recovery in Fiji | Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Minister for Women (archived link)

• ANZ partners with Australian Government to support critical infrastructure in Fiji

• Airports Fiji  

As a key initiative under the Trilateral Partnership for Infrastructure investment in the Indo-Pacific, Australia, the US, and Japan have invested approximately AUD40 million in the project, along with Palau. Australia’s contribution, including management of US funding, is being delivered by the Australian Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific.

The project will ensure more reliable and secure digital connectivity which will translate into improved government services, access to information to improve education and health services, and entrepreneurial opportunities that contribute to prosperity, particularly important during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Papua New Guinea’s maritime infrastructure will benefit from the signing today of an agreement between Australia and Papua New Guinea to design and scope the upgrade and refurbishment of key ports across the country. 

Under the agreement, Australia, through the Australian Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific (AIFFP), will support PNG Ports Corporation to prepare investments under Papua New Guinea’s 30-Year Ports Infrastructure Master Plan.  

This design and scoping work is expected to result in potential investments, through the AIFFP, estimated at AUD400 million. Australia’s support will assist PNG Ports Corporation to increase the capacity of Papua New Guinea’s commercial ports to accommodate larger ships, which will improve trade and connectivity in the region.