PNG is a constitutional democracy with unicameral Parliament of 111 members. Queen Elizabeth-II is the Head of State represented by the Governor General who is elected by Parliament by a secret ballot. There are 22 provinces with locally elected provincial assemblies. The Provincial Governments are responsible for health, education, rural development, etc. for which funds are devolved by the National Government in Port Moresby.

PNG is a resource rich country. It has estimated recoverable reserves of about 23 million ounces of gold, 500 million barrels of oil and 35 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. It is rich in forest and marine resources. Its two-third export earnings come from gold, silver copper, nickel and crude oil. The rest is from timber, coffee, palm oil, cocoa, copra, rubber and marine exports. PNG’s major imports are machinery and equipment, manufactured goods, food and chemicals. While its mining and oil sectors are dominated by Australia, USA and UK, its other major trading partners are Japan, Germany, Singapore, China, New Zealand, Korea and Indonesia. Trade with Australia constitutes around 45% of the total trade. China has become a major player with a large investment in nickel and cobalt mines. PNG receives over US$ 600 million annual grants-in-aid from Australia. Other donors are Japan, EU, China and New Zealand. An important development in the recent past was the taking off of the US$ 19 billion LNG project with a consortium led by Exxon Mobil. The project is expected to sustain PNG economy for the next 40-50 years. LNG exports begun in 2014.

GDP

US$ 17 billion (2014)

GDP per capita

US$ 1784 (2014)

GDP per capita PPP

US $ 2723 (2014)

GDP annual growth rate

2.6% (2016)

Total Trade Imports Exports

US$ 9.1 billion US$ 4.0 billion US$ 5.1 billion

Bilateral Trade Imports from India Exports to India

US$ 144.41 (2016-17) US$ 36.35 million US$ 108.06 million

INDIA SPECIFIC INFORMATION

Indian community

Approximately 3,000. Mostly businessmen and officials working in various departments, serving in different areas, including IT and IT-enabled services, education, technical personnel for mining, hydrocarbons, etc.