PNG would welcome more US investment


Papua New Guinea would welcome more investment from the US as the superpower continues its battle for supremacy with China, according to Bougainville president John Momis.

US secretary of state Hillary Clinton has issued a warning that PNG is one part of the Pacific where the US is engaged in a strategic competition with China over resources and leadership.

Ms Clinton was blunt about US strategic intentions when she went before the foreign relations committee last week.

She says China is "wining and dining" politicians from across the Pacific.

"Let's put aside the moral, humanitarian, do-good side of what we believe in and let's just talk straight, real politique," she said.

"We are in a competition with China. Take Papua New Guinea - huge energy find.

"Exxon Mobil is producing it. China is in there every day in every way trying to figure out how it's going to come in behind us, come in under us. They're supporting the dictatorial regime that unfortunately is now in charge of Fiji.

"They have brought all of the leaders of these small Pacific nations to Beijing, wined them and dined them. I mean, if anybody thinks that our retreating on these issues is somehow going to be irrelevant to the maintenance of our leadership in a world where we are competing with China, that is a mistaken notion."

Bougainville is still recovering from a civil war in the 1990s that left thousands dead and destroyed much of the island's infrastructure.

Australia and Papua New Guinea are supporting Bougainville's reconstruction, which is also home to the massive British and Australian-owned Panguna copper mine and is prospective for more minerals.

Conspicuous Absence

Mr Momis is one of Papua New Guinea's elder statesmen and its former ambassador to China.

He says the Exxon Mobil lead LNG project is the exception rather than the rule when it comes to US investment. He says Chinese companies have shown interest in taking a stake in the Panguna copper mine.

He says the US has a policy of not investing in Papua New Guinea

"[Exxon is a] one off. Apart from that, the US is conspicuous by its absence in Bougainville. China, on the other hand, is looking into a wide range of projects in PNG," he said.

He says economic and social development is a priority and he is keen to welcome new investors.

"We now have Chinese entrepreneurs on the ground looking at possibilities of farming, fishing, shipping, starting up a technical college. The Chinese government or the embassy has said to us that they would be prepared to build a technical college," he said.

"We've also had an offer from Europe, a private offer not government, to build a technical college. We do need, in my view, we need to have good technical colleges to produce educated, technically qualified people."

Mr Momis has just completed a week-long visit to Australia at the invitation of the Australian Government. He flew home confident that he will get a good hearing for his request that more of Australia's increasing aid budget go to Bougainville.

"We are encouraging Chinese and some Australians, as well as Kiwis, and any other investor who is interested, to [invest with us]," he said.

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