Kevin Nyango
TechInPacific – Papua New Guinea (PNG) is a country that was once part of the Republic of Indonesia. PNG has land borders with Indonesia, namely the Province of West Nusa Tenggara. Currently, PNG is building various infrastructure such as submarine cable projects. This submarine cable project is funded by China through the Exim Bank of China. According to William Duma as the Minister of Public Enterprises PNG said that “EXIM Bank of China will finance the construction of the K661 million ($ 200 million) PNG Kumul cable project submarine,”. He also added that “The Huawei project would tie in with Coral Sea Submarine cable from Australia to Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands to improve internet capability in the country”.
The PNG Kumul cable project is planned to connect Port Moresby, Alotau, Popondetta, Lae and Madang. According to the PNG newspaper that the project is predicted to end this year. In the future, the Kumul cable infrastructure will be monitored by PNG DataCo as an internet business partner of Telkom Holding. Although the project is mostly funded by foreign parties, the PNG government provides funds of around 10% of the total cost for the construction of the submarine cable.
In a press conference, William Duma as the representative of the PNG government said that “We want to thank the Chinese people, who through the Exim Bank of China have agreed to fund this important domestic project”. He also thanked Australia for helping the PNG government when the PNG government needed it.
