Botten to present at next NBC National Press Club

Oil Search Limited CEO Peter Botten will be the guest speaker at the next NBC National Press Club - Speaker Series on July 17.

He will be the first speaker to represent the PNG private sector at the high profile speaker series following appearances early in the year by Prime Minister Peter O'Neill, Opposition Leader Don Polye and retiring founding Prime Minister of PNG, Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare.

The resource sector continues to play an important role in the PNG economy as the international prices of export commodities such as cocoa, copra, oil, gold and LNG slowly improve. The Bank of PNG attributed an improvement in foreign exchange inflows to the improving export commodity prices in its May 2017 Quarterly Economic Bulletin. Mr Botten will highlight the importance of the resource sector to the local economy as PNG attempts to ride out the economic downturn.

He will also discuss the PNG LNG project, the challenges of distributing benefits from the project, the importance of engaging communities in the project area communities, and the need for public private partnerships - cooperation between the Government and the private sector to bring much needed development to PNG.

Mr Botten has been leading Oil Search for more than 20 years as Managing Director, and has transformed a once small PNG company into a multibillion kina home grown business, and is a well-respected authority on the PNG petroleum industry. He has been recognized by Harvard Business School, for 2 years running, as one of the world's top 100 CEOs.

National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) managing director Kora Nou and the Media Council of PNG president Alexander Rheeney welcomed the guest appearance of Mr Botten, saying his lecture will be welcomed in government and business circles that are keen on restoring confidence in the local economy.

"Oil Search Limited has contributed immensely to the growth and prosperity of PNG since 1929, and in these times of economic uncertainty; Papua New Guineans are counting on the support of long-term investors such as Oil Search Limited. We look forward to Mr Botten's presentation at the next NBC National Press Club - Speaker Series," said Mr Nou.

The NBC National Press Club - Speaker Series is broadcast on NBC national radio and is delayed telecast on NBC Television. There is a training component to the event, which is done for Papua New Guinean journalists to prepare them for the event. Tickets to the July 17 event are going for K150 each and can be purchased at the Lamana Hotel reception. The NBC National Press Club is a partnership between the National Broadcasting Corporation, Media Council of PNG and Lamana Hotel Ltd.