The 2022 Digicel Cup Franchise Managers Conference was hosted on Wednesday at the Gateway Hotel in Port Moresby with the theme of the Conference being “Taking the Game Higher.” A total of 11 Franchise Managers together with PNGRFL executives gathered to discuss and come up with better ways in which to manage and improve the quality and level of the country’s only semi-professional rugby league competition. The main highlights of the conference included the announcement of the Digicel Cup 5 Year Strategic Plan, the PNGRFL Banis Protocol for the Digicel Cup Competition as well as the new Organizational Structure for the NRLC. Franchise Managers expressed numerous concerns regarding the overall management of the competition from players’ welfare and professional development to improving administration and operations of the Digicel Cup Competition going forward. Lae Snax Tigers Franchise Manager Mr Joe Krammer expressed concerns regarding the salary cap limit for each Digicel Cup player. He further queried if the PNGRFL could come up with a salary ceiling guideline which franchises can use as a guide to come up with salary packages which commensurate with each players’ level of performance. “If the PNGRFL can come up with a ceiling as to how much a player can be paid depending on their level of skills and experience, franchises can then know how to safely compensate their players.” “If they have this guide, they will be able to make better decisions for their teams and not have to end up losing their best players to other well advantaged Digicel Cup Franchises who are able to compensate players better,” Mr Krammer said. The Snax Tigers Franchise Manager raised this concern after noticing the movement of best players every year to franchises who are financially sound thus resulting in other young franchises having to struggle during the season with their younger, inexperienced teams. He said this movement by best players in search of the best contract deals then makes the competition less competitive as they are all now cramped up in three or four financially stable teams while the rest of the teams have only a few stronger players and said that this makes the competition a little unfair. PNGNRLC General Manager Mr Ora Gairo said the issue of salary cap will be looked into as well as other important matters discussed and better processes put in place to manage these as the competition progresses throughout the year. He said for now, franchises must work with their players to ensure player registration is complete and vaccination cards presented for each player in time for the commencement of the competition on the 17th of April 2022.

The Government will introduce amendments to the Proceeds of Crime Act to include provisions for Unexplained Wealth. Minister for Justice Bryan Kramer said the Prime Minister James Marape has directed that these changes be made and brought before Parliament to be passed. “The Unexplained Wealth provisions when passed under the Proceeds of Crime Act, will be used against public officials whose wealth exceeds that which cannot be explained by their legitimate income.” “The organisers and beneficiaries of financially motivated crimes are often very good at distancing themselves from criminal activity and concealing their source of wealth.” “They are seldom directly involved in criminal activity, but will profit significantly from it. Even those who are directly involved can commit crimes without leaving an evidentiary trail or destroy that trail.” “People who profit from crime but cannot be proven to have committed it, should not be able to keep the benefits of their activities unless they can prove that their wealth has been legitimately acquired,” Minister Kramer said. The key features of the Unexplained Wealth provision are: • The unexplained wealth provisions will apply to public officials as given the meaning under the Organic Law on ICAC. • The State may apply to the Court for an unexplained wealth order against a public official. This application may be made in conjunction with an application for a restraining order under the Proceeds of Crime Act, or at any other time. That is, a restraining order does not need to have been made in order to apply for an unexplained wealth declaration. • The Court must make an order against a public official if the Court is satisfied that there is a reasonable suspicion that: (a) The public official— (i) has engaged in one or more serious crime related activities; or (ii) has acquired, without giving sufficient consideration, serious crime derived property from a serious crime related activity of someone else, whether or not the person knew or suspected the property was derived from illegal activity; and (b) any of the public official’s current or previous wealth was acquired unlawfully. • The value of unexplained wealth is calculated by subtracting the person’s lawfully acquired wealth from their total wealth. • The amount so calculated must be paid to the Government. This debt may be satisfied (wholly or in part) through the confiscation of property covered by a restraining order under the Proceeds of Crime Act. It is otherwise payable to the State. • There will be a safeguard in the provision to allow the Court to refuse to make an unexplained wealth order if the Court is satisfied that it will not be in the public interest to make the order. “These amendments to the Proceeds of Crime Act are not a panacea-a solution to all our corruption issues. They are however, important changes to legislation that are designed to complement other laws such as the Whistle Blower Act, and the Independent Commission Against Corruption Act,” Minister Kramer said. “Prime Minister Marape has led the efforts of this Government to curb corruption, and the new laws, and the Unexplained Wealth provisions to go before Parliament, demonstrate that political will.” All these measures by the Government have seen PNG’s ranking on the global Corruption Perception Index move 18 places from 142 in 2020 to 124 out of 180 countries by 2021.

The National Maritime Safety Authority (NMSA) is committed to effectively roll out the Small Craft Act 2011 in the 15 Maritime Provinces in Papua New Guinea to ensure safety standards at sea are adhered to by owners of small crafts. Effective implementation of the Act in all 15 Maritime Provinces is one of the key objectives of NMSA’s operations, in particular, the safety program that aims to improve safety while traveling at sea. NMSA provides the overall leadership to ensure the Act is effectively implemented by the respective provincial governments through the establishment of Provincial Small Craft Registration Boards. The Provincial Small Crafts Registration Boards are tasked to promote safety by ensuring that owners of all small crafts who ferry passengers are registered, licensed and monitored. During the Consultative Implementation and Monitoring Council’s (CIMC) Sea Transport Sub-Committee meeting held recently, NMSA revealed that the number of incidents at sea was lower than the previous years after the roll out of the Act. The Act empowers Provincial Governments to enact safety guidelines and rules for small craft operators and their passengers; gives them the power to prosecute those not complying with the Act; and planning on infrastructures that can confine or provide designated berthing bay for the small craft to maintain order. The subcommittee heard that 14 out of the 15 Maritime Provinces in PNG have all implemented the Act in collaboration with the NMSA. The only province that has not implemented the Act is Madang Province though numerous calls were made to the Governor and his administration highlighting the importance of setting up the Provincial Small Crafts Registration Board. The Subcommittee while commending the efforts of NMSA, expressed its disappointment that Madang has been experiencing the highest sea incidents according to statistics presented by the NSMA including loss of many innocent lives in the last few years, yet it does not see this as important and life saving measure. Therefore the Subcommittee called on the Governor, Peter Yama, the Open Members of Parliament for Madang Province and the Madang Provincial Administration to set this up immediately before the elections as a gift to the people of Madang.

Police in the West New Britain Province are prepared to deliver a free, fair and safe 2022 National General Election, said Provincial Police Commander Chief Inspector John Iara. Mr Iara said the provincial command has in place policing strategies to provide the security overlay required by the PNG Electoral Commission and the people of West New Britain. Mr Iara commended Police Commissioner David Manning for trusting the various police commands to deliver the country’s 12th National General Election. After all, he said this is not new and the police together with its sister disciplined forces have delivered 11 national general elections for the country so far. Mr Iara said the provincial police command knows what its requirements are and have now gone into the pre-election phase of conducting election awareness to educate voters on election related offences as well as address general law and order issues as part of election preparation. “This helps gain the trust and gives confidence to the citizens,” Mr Iara said. He said his command has no problem with the new Nakanai District created recently by the National Parliament as a result of the increase in population. He said Police have gone along with the Provincial Electoral team to prepare the polling locations in the new district. However, police are yet to conduct awareness into parts of Kandrian-Gloucester District as they are still waiting for the election funding. The district is made up of inland islands mostly accessible by boats. He also stated that they are low on manpower and awaiting approval from the Police headquarters to use police reservists. The PPC said despite these challenges his men and women are fully aware of their roles and responsibilities during the election and are prepared to deliver. “We’ve done this before and we will do it again this year,” said a confident PPC Iara.

BSP Financial Group Limited (BSP) continues to reduce fees on its products and services, this time on its SME products, and its Kundu Standard and Plus Saver Accounts for Retail customers. In announcing the new reduced fees which are effective as of Friday 1st April, 2022, BSP Group CEO Robin Fleming said this reduction of fees benefit over 11,000 BSP SME Deposit Account customers who will see huge fee reductions on BSP’s accounts that have been tailored for our SME customer’s which are our SME Package Account and SME Current Account. “Our SME Package customers will enjoy a reduction on their Monthly account service Fees by K7, from the current fee of K15 per month to K8 per month. They will see a reduction in the fees for an in Branch EFTPoS Withdrawal fee from K4 to K2 and Branch Withdrawal fee will be reduced from K3 to K2. For the SME Current Account customers, the Monthly account service fee of K10 will be reduced to K8, in Branch EFTPoS Withdrawals from K4 to K2 and Branch Withdrawal fee reduced from K3 to K2. The Branch Deposit Fee of K2 will be removed for both SME Accounts. “BSP Personal Account customers will also enjoy a reduction of fees; Branch Withdrawal fee on the BSP Kundu Standard account from K4 to K2 while Internet Banking Transfer and paying other BSP Accounts is now free for the Plus Saver Account. All these will be effective as of Friday 1st April, 2022,” Mr Fleming added. A detailed list of BSP’s fees and charges is on the BSP website www.bsp.com.pg These changes come after a reduction in the Kundu Package Account monthly fee for BSP personal account customers, changes to Cash Handling Fees on withdrawals and removal of cash handling fees on deposits that came into effect on the 1st of March, 2022. “The reduction of these fees does not mean BSP will be increasing fees in other products/services. In fact, BSP has not increased its fees since 2014 and we continue to reduce and/or removed many of its fees over that period, foregoing in excess of K90m in fees annually as result of its fee-reduction initiatives,” Mr Fleming went on to say. He also added that despite the Government introducing the additional Company Tax under which BSP will now be taxed an additional K190m every year, that is now in effect; BSP recognizes the importance of providing its customers with cost effective services to the important Retail sector which no other bank is willing to provide with the scale and coverage of BSP. Customers who have queries with their accounts as a result of these fee changes can contact BSP Customer Service Centre on 70301212 | 3201212 or email Servicebsp@bsp.com.pg

Four suspects were arrested and charged for the wilful murder of a 45-year-old female from Kaulenge village, Imbonggu district in the Southern Highlands Province. The Southern Highlands Provincial Police Commander (PPC) Chief Inspector Daniel Yangen said the suspects were informed of their Constitutional rights under section 42(2) of the PNG Constitution and placed in the police cell in Mendi. Mr Yangen said the suspects were identified as Constable Mai Pale, age 33 (husband), and three teenage male all from Koroba in the Hela Province. It was alleged that on 14th of March, 2022 at around 8.30pm the suspect (husband) of the deceased (named) had an argument with her in their house at the Kaupena Highway Patrol 17 base police Barracks in Imbonggu, Southern Highlands Province. Mr Yangen said during the argument the suspect and the deceased came out of their house where the suspect allegedly kicked his wife on her right ribs. The deceased then fell unconscious to the ground and the defendant allegedly picked up a stone and hit the deceased on the left side of her head. Mr Yangen said the three other suspects then allegedly also kicked the deceased all over her body whilst she was lying on the ground unconscious. Mr Yangen said the relatives of the deceased intervened but the suspects allegedly threatened them with a bush knife and kitchen knives. The suspects then left the crime scene. The relatives of the deceased took her to the Kaupena Health Centre the next day. She was then referred to the Mt Hagen General Hospital for further treatment but died at the Hospital. Picture: PPC Daniel YANGEN FB page 

Minister for Police William Gogl Onglo says security contigency teams have been deployed to Hela as of yesterday in light of the current situation which includes a squad from Mendi (yesterday) and a Mobile Unit from Mt Hagen (today). The Minister also strongly condemns the killing of reservist officer by the criminals. "I do, in strongest term possible, condemn the attack by the warlords and eventually the killing of a reservist Police Officer." "We need to respect the rule of law and maintain our conduct as responsible citizens but these barbarians feel they are above the law and can take the life of an innocent policemen who was just doing his job" The incident was understood to have stemmed from a gun battle between police and men from Kupari village when Policemen from the Mobile Squad 9 unit went to Kupari village for a peace mediation. The National Executive Council in its meeting today endorsed for early security operations in the entire region leading up to 2022 National General Elections. Minister Onglo said the security team comprising of both Police and Military personnel would patrol the region including Tari to help contain the situation before things gets out of hand. He also noted that some mobile squad units from other centres were on their way to Tari in light of the incident. "We (Government) had a quick cabinet meeting today and I asked for an early call out operation to include the Military and its approved," says the Minister. " All the security forces are being mobilised as we speak to patrol the entire highlands region" added the Minister. “We want to see investigations and arrests, we want law breakers and warlords to be dealt with the full force of the law. We must contain the lawnessness." stressed the Minister. The Minister concluded by saying with the NEC approval for a call out, both the Police and Military will work hand in hand to curb lawlessness as well as gearing up for the security operations for the National Elections until Dec 31, 2022 under the Election Security Operations Budget.

The Australian High Commission has committed K7.1 million (AUD2.7 million) in new funding over three years to deliver a biosecurity capacity building project within the Papua New Guinea National Agriculture and Quarantine Inspection Authority (NAQIA), strengthening the PNG-Australia agriculture partnership. This biosecurity project, led by CSIRO’s Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness, will aim to strengthen PNG’s ability to prevent and control serious animal diseases, using African Swine Fever (ASF) as a model, through strengthened field disease surveillance and laboratory diagnostics. The project was developed following a request from Managing Director of NAQIA Mr Joel Alu, and is in line with NAQIA’s long-standing strategic goals, and Australia’s recognition for the need for strengthened preparedness and biosecurity in PNG. The Australian High Commission’s Minister-Counsellor for Economics, Health and Infrastructure, Diane Barclay said that this project was a significant initiative, which demonstrated Australia’s commitment to agriculture and biosecurity in PNG. “This new biosecurity project will help PNG to prevent and control animal diseases, which will improve food security and help to open up market opportunities in PNG” Minister Counsellor Barclay said. The Australian Government has provided funding and technical support to PNG to help contain the spread of ASF since early 2020.

The more contagious omicron subvariant, BA.2, is now the dominant version of Covid-19 in the U.S., according to data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week. The subvariant accounts for nearly 55% of Covid infection samples that have undergone genetic sequencing. Even so, the spread of a more contagious strain does not guarantee the U.S. will endure a new wave of cases. BA.2 has doubled as a proportion of circulating variants of the virus in the U.S. about every two weeks. At the beginning of February, the omicron subvariant made up just 1% of sequenced Covid cases in the U.S. The BA.2 subvariant spreads about 75% faster than the earlier version of omicron, BA.1, according to the latest update from the U.K. Health Security Agency. BA.2 has caused a spike in infections in the U.K. and Germany in recent weeks, though cases have started to decline again there. China has been battling its worst outbreak since 2020, which is also driven by BA.2 Though BA.2 spreads faster, it does not make people sicker than the earlier version of omicron, according to data from South Africa and the U.K., among other countries. Omicron and its subvariants generally result in less severe illness than the delta variant. Scientists in Qatar have found that Covid vaccines are as effective against BA.2 as they were against BA.1, though omicron has caused more breakthrough infections. White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said earlier this month that BA.2 could cause an uptick in cases in the U.S. But he does not expect another surge. Fauci said the country does not yet need to reintroduce Covid restrictions in response to the subvariant. In New England, BA.2 now makes up about 73% of all Covid cases that have undergone genetic sequencing, according to the CDC. In New York and New Jersey, BA.2 represents more than 70% of sequenced cases. Throughout the pandemic, the Northeast has often been an epicenter of new variants and a harbinger of what the rest of the nation will face. New infections have plummeted 96% since the peak of the unprecedented wave of omicron cases in January, according to a CNBC analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University. Hospital admissions from Covid have plunged 92% from the peak of the winter spike, according to data from the CDC. The CDC has shifted its focus to hospitalizations, an indicator of how much severe illness the virus is causing, when issuing public health guidance on Covid. Earlier this month, the CDC said 98% of the U.S. population lives in areas where they can go without face masks. Ali Mokdad, a leading epidemiologist at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, said Covid cases will continue to decline through the spring and summer due to built up immunity from vaccines and the winter omicron wave. Mokdad said another surge is possible in the winter as protection from the vaccines wanes. However, Michael Osterholm — a top epidemiologist at the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota — said it is unclear how BA.2 will affect the U.S. It is difficult to predict what the variant’s spread in one country means for another nation, because previous strains have affected parts of the world differently, he added. Osterholm said the U.S. has had high levels of immunity before, only to see a major surge. In December, about 95% of the U.S. population ages 16 and older had antibodies against the virus either through vaccination or infection, according to a CDC survey of blood donor samples. However, omicron still managed to cause the most infections of the entire pandemic weeks later. KEY POINTS BA.2 is now the dominant version of Covid-19 in the U.S. as it accounts for nearly 55% of Covid cases that have undergone genetic sequencing, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. BA.2 is more transmissible and has caused new outbreaks in Europe and China. White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci has said he does not expect another surge, though cases could rise in the coming weeks. SOURCE: via CNBC news

Communities in Boikin and Dagua LLGs in Wewak District, East Sepik Province, will soon have improved access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services following a grant of USD $150,000 from The Coca-Cola Foundation, the international philanthropic arm of The CocaCola Company, to WaterAid, an international non-governmental organization. The one-year grant will enable WaterAid to improve access to safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene services in the two LLGs in Wewak District. Joint monitoring program data (July 2021) shows that over 63% of Papua New Guineans lack access to a basic water supply and 81% lack access to a basic hygienic toilet. This lack of access to water and sanitation and poor hygiene practices result in increased incidences of water-borne diseases, especially diarrhea, typhoid and cholera. Director of Programs for WaterAid PNG, Ms Navara Kiene, says: “WaterAid is delighted to receive the support from The Coca-Cola Foundation to achieve improved access to these much-needed services for these communities. “As a result of the grant, households in Walandoum and the wider Boikin LLG community will have increased access to clean, safe water with the construction of a gravity-fed water supply. WASH services in Boikin Health Centre will also improve to benefit the patients and community members accessing the facility. “Part of the funding will also contribute towards the completion of a hybrid gravity-fed and rain catchment system for the 1103 people of Sowom, Dagua LLG. “Apart from the planned water supply construction and upgrades, the funded projects will take a sustainable holistic approach of working with government, community and health centre staff to establish mechanisms such as WASH Committees for ownership and maintenance of WASH infrastructure as well as to lead hygiene behavior change promotion including Covid prevention messaging and vaccination advocacy in the target communities.” The project will also have specific benefits for women and girls, says Ms Kiene. “For example, in Walandoum the nearest clean water source accessed by the community is over 1.5km away. Women and girls have experienced physical stress from carrying heavy loads of water from the water source as well as incidents of being harassed while making the trek to collect water so they sometimes rely on an unsafe water wells instead.” “The project will enable easier and safer access for the women and girls of Walanduom who bear most of the burden of WASH related household tasks and will benefit the most from it,” she says. Saadia Madsbjerg, The Coca-Cola Foundation President says: “One of the priorities of The Coca-Cola Foundation is to help transform lives and build more resilient communities through water stewardship – from supplying sources of clean drinking water to improving sanitation and hygiene. We’re proud to support WaterAid to deliver these WASH services in Papua New Guinea.” All the projects selected for The Coca-Cola Foundation funding are taken from the 5-year Wewak District WASH Plan (2019 – 2023), which was developed based on data from a district-wide baseline conducted by the Wewak District and provincial government representatives and supported by the PNG-Australia Partnership’s Water for Women Program in 2019. Implementation and monitoring of the projects will be supported by the Wewak District WASH Coordination Body, chaired by the Wewak District Administration and the East Sepik Provincial Authority.

The French Navy Patrol Boat “La Glorieuse” and the French Air Force aircraft “Gardian”, which both came from Noumea and stopped over in Port-Moresby at this occasion, participated a few days ago in a regional fisheries policing operation in the PNG Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). This annual operation, called “Rai Balang”, is one of four annual regional monitoring control and surveillance operations aimed at stopping illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, in the Pacific. Led by the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA), the timing of all surveillance exercises is a closely guarded secret involving FFA’s Regional Fisheries Surveillance Centre, Maritime, Fisheries and Police officials in participating member countries, including PNG, and support from the aerial and naval resources of the United States, France, New Zealand, and Australia. Papua New Guinea benefits therefor of this operation. It is within this framework that a PNGDF officer and a NFA officer (National Fishery Authority) embarked during 5 days on “La Glorieuse”, to allow each side to exchange experiences. The French crew was very impressed by the professionalism of the two PNG guests who are now their friends. During her boating, “La Glorieuse” had the opportunity to interact with PNGDF Patrol Boat “Rochus Lokinap”. This operation was also an opportunity for PNG Defence Secretary Hari John Akipe to fly aboard the “Gardian” to participate to an aerial surveillance of a part of the PNG EEZ. French Ambassador to PNG Guillaume Lemoine says that “This is not my capacity to give further details on the operation, but with several sights and reports to FFA authorities in the full compliance with the regulation in this very sensitive matter, France is happy and proud to have contributed, alongside other partners, to improve the maritime security in the region, for the benefit of its ally and friend Papua New Guinea!“

The Deputy Chairperson of Nambawan Super, Dame Meg Taylor, yesterday announced that in 2021 the Fund has grown its net asset value to K8.82 billion, earning a net profit of K526 million that has been distributed to more than 208,000 members through applying a crediting rate of 6.5% to their accounts. Dame Taylor said that the Nambawan Super Limited (NSL) Board and Management had worked tirelessly to overcome the challenges of the Coronavirus Pandemic to deliver good returns for their members and they were pleased with the overall performance of the Fund in 2021. “It is pleasing that we will be kicking off 2022 with news of a good result from last year. As 2022 also marks Nambawan Super’s 60th Anniversary of service to our members, builing better futures, throughout PNG”, Dame Taylor said. “As a profit-to-members fund, generating profits that we can return to members is our highest priority and we are proud to have been doing this for 60 years, cementing Nambawan Super as PNG’s best superannuation fund over the long-term.” “After a tumultuous year in 2020, we were determined to overcome the challenges of the Pandemic and continue to deliver satisfactory results for our members.” “Over the past 10 years our Asset base has more than doubled,” Dame Taylor reiteriated “Our Asset base is our Members’ savings which means the wealth of members has doubled over the past decade.” “Nambawan Super’s compound average returns over the past 10 years are 7%, almost a full 2% over the national CPI for the period, which means real returns to members”, Dame Taylor explained. “We hope that members will also be pleased by these results when they see the interest payments credited into their accounts over the next few days.” Dame Taylor explained that 2021 has not been without its challenges and the Fund had to work hard to achieve these results. She added, “The Pandemic is still here and we expect these tough global economic conditions to continue, however, we have been working hard to adapt our approach to investments and operations to ensure that we are continuing to deliver for our members regardless of the challenges faced.” “The positive results of 2021 can be attributed to our continued efforts to diversify our investment portfolio to improve on our risk/return ratio. This means that we are spreading our investments over several local and international bonds and equities, as well as in properties and domestic cash to ensure that we continue to generate returns even when some investments are not performing as well as expected”. Dame Taylor pointed out that NSL uses an effective investment strategy, aligned to the prudential standards of the Superannuation (General Provisions) Act 2000, to manage the risk of adverse outcomes for individual investments. “Compared to 2020, our investment performance was stronger across all asset classes. Fifty million kina increases in both interest and dividend payments have provided cash for the fund to reinvest”, Dame Taylor added. “BSP performed very well – returning 80 million kina for our members. Part payment of rental arrears owed by the State in 2021 also has had a positive impact on 2021 results. In particular – compared to 2020 – valuation has rebounded, from a 225.4 loss last year, to 61.5 million kina gain in 2021.” Dame Taylor stated that outside of financial returns for members, the Fund has also delivered several achievements for members in 2021. These achievements include: The Fund received K50 million from the State in December 2021, in partial payment of their outstanding rental arrears. NSL continues to work with the State and has again called on the State in early 2022 to meet its obligations before entering the election period. New Branch opened in Maprik to provide better access to services for this growing East Sepik township. The Fund retained 5,584 members through Retirement Savings Accounts (RSA) with K192 million in funds, which is a rise of 12% in membership and a 17.5% increase in RSA Funds Under Management. NSL’s Financial Literacy Training was built and rolled out to 351 members in 2021, with more members already being trained in 2022. There was a notable improvement in State Share payments, including the State prepaying some members' contributions, which enables them to seamlessly exit the fund. NSL appointed two very capable Papua New Guineans in Mr. David Kitchnoge and Mr. Pochon Lili to the positions of Chief Investment Officer and Chief Financial Officer, respectively. Dame Taylor also spoke about the Funds outlook for 2022 and outlined some of the challenges it expects to encounter. A key challenge that the Fund is mindful of is the intention of the State to impose unfavourable tax reforms which will diminish returns to members including a possible Capital Gains Tax (CGT) and the already legislated Market Concentration Levy. Dame Taylor explained, “The CGT would be unfavourable for Superannuation contributers if special concessions aren’t applied for Super Funds.” “We have already called on the Government to repeal the Market Concentration Levy to be imposed on the Banking and Telecommunications sectors, as it would lead to all super fund members losing over K317 million in asset values and reduced dividends, in just the first year”. “After considering the immediate impact on BSP’s price to earnings ratio and the resulting value erosion, it is estimated that in the first year alone, the members’ crediting rate may be reduced by as much as 2% which translates to about a K160 million loss of members’ returns.” “Nambawan Super already pays substantial taxes and many of our investment business are also already highly taxed. We are not looking for special treatment, we are simply asking for fairness in protecting our members retirement savings.” “Nambawan Super will continue to work with key stakeholders and industry players to advocate for the protection of our members' savings as our highest priority.” Dame Taylor went on to say that the Fund is expecting many more challenges ahead but also just as many opportunities in 2022 and further. “We are aware that the current economic environment is producing higher inflation and lowering interest rates which makes it more challenging to generate real returns for members”, she continued. “However, we are optimistic that with Superannuation and Life Insurance reforms due soon, which may result in positive changes for the Fund, in particular in areas where we have advocated such as making super available for everyone and favourable taxation, especially on Retirement Saving Account members.” In closing, Dame Taylor thanked Nambawan Super’s Board, including Directors who retireed from the Board in 2021, Executive, Management and especially the NSL staff for their hard work and contribution to the 2021 results. “Finally, I would like to once again encourage our members and all Papua New Guineans to continue prioritising saving for your future as it is the first and most important step in securing a more comfortable and happy life after retirement.” “I also thank our members for trusting us with your savings and working with us to grow your wealth over the last 60 years, we are proud to have helped build better futures for our members and aim to continue doing so long into the future”, Dame Taylor concluded. Key figures: 2021 net asset value was K8.82 billion and had rose by 8.4% equating to a K680 million increase. The Fund recorded a record net profit of K526 million which climbed by K437 million from 2020. The 6.5% return is excellent in challenging economic conditions. The management expense ratio remained at 1% Total contributions for 2021 were K935 million which is an increase of K134 million. Total member payouts were K778 million, an increase of K337 million. K88 million paid to members in Housing Advances which rose by K48 million since 2020. Members contributed K37 million voluntarily in 2021 and membership grew to 30,391 members with voluntary Funds Under Management totalling K244 million