The Papua New Guinea Olympic Committee in its capacity as the PNG Commonwealth Games Association (PNGCGA) is pleased to announce and congratulate Vavine Yore on being selected as one of 25 women from the Commonwealth and as a first successful recipient from Papua New Guinea to be awarded the Commonwealth Women's Leadership Programme Scholarship (CWLPS) in 2022. The CWLP scholarship offers women in sport in the Commonwealth access to cutting-edge opportunities that will empower them to become leaders within their sport and community on their development journeys to being strong role models and agents of change to guide the next generation of women in sport. It aims to support emerging female leaders to access appropriate educational and experiential opportunities which will empower them as leaders for equal rights within their sport and communities. This program will support participants to not only clarify their leadership ambitions and recognise their leadership strengths but more importantly will broaden their understanding of their role in supporting equality within the Commonwealth Sports Movement. Included in the package is mentoring by both local and international mentors to support their journey and ambitions. As part of the course requirement, Yore will be required to complete a 1-year personal development plan. Yore is employed with the PNG Sports Foundation, under its High Performance (HP) Sports, as a Performance Manager (Team Sports), managing an integrated system that provides support to 13 diverse disciplines of teams sports that comprise elite-level National Athletes, Team Coaches, and Team Managers, working in collaboration with the National Federations. In this capacity, she manages and provides oversight to ensure that the 200+ athletes that access the HP Gym 2-3 times week access leading specialist services to reach peak performance. PNGCGA Secretary-General, Auvita Rapilla congratulated Yore on behalf of the organisation & Executive Board. "The PNGCGA is delighted to receive this exciting news this week and duly congratulates Yore on the success of her application and achievement, of being awarded the scholarship and to join the recipients across the Commonwealth as the Cohort of 2022." "We wish her all the best in the program and as a thriving young leader, we have no doubt that she will be successful in her endeavours building her career and leadership in sport.” Yore expressed her profound gratitude for the support from PNGCGA for her successful nomination and looks forward to working with her mentors in guiding her journey to be a strong role model and agent of change promoting equality in communities and sport.

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After a lot of rumours around the participation or not of Papua New Guinea’s sole full professional player in the next FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, Oceania Football Center is delighted to announce that HJK’s David Browne will take part in the competition donning the colours of his home country. The news were confirmed by PNG Kapuls head coach Marcos Gusmão when asked if the player was cleared or not to represent Papua New Guinea. The former Auckland City man was not in the previous list released by PNGFA; the football entity revealed the player was not eligible to represent the country since his passport was expired – the player that has a British father and was born in Papua New Guinean soil was playing in Europe under his British passport. The forward that is currently playing in top-tier league of Finland was denied at first a chance to represent once again his national team. Recently, it was reported by local media that PNGFA was close to clear Browne to play again for the national team, since they were able to provide most of the paperwork needed to him. It was also mentioned that the player was waiting the approval of an important document and then so would be cleared to join the squad. The last time Browne played for the national was in 2017 – the player has only three international caps and is set now to continue his international duty with Papua New Guinea. The 26-year-old will be a very important addition to Gusmão’s squad, with a promissing partnership upfront alongside Tommy Semmy being very anticipated by the local fans. Gusmão also stated the player will join the squad in Qatar, where the tournament will be hosted this March, meaning so the player will not train with the rest of the squad in Papua New Guinea. PNG Kapuls will have a very difficult start in their campaign in the qualifiers since their first match will be against New Zealand. They will also need to surpass Fiji and New Caledonia if they want to proceed to the semi-final stage of the competition.

The Department of Implementation and Rural Development (DIRD) has clarified today that the disbursement and frontloading of Service Improvement Program (PSIP & DSIP) to sub-national administrations is done by the Department of Finance (DoF). DIRD which is mandated to coordinate, supervise, monitor and manage programs and grants under the SIP ensuring their effective integration and synergy with activities under public investment program (PIP) is no longer responsible for disbursing SIP funds, however only mandated to enforce governance and accountability through monitoring to ensure realization of impact developments. Secretary for Aihi Vaki stressed this following a news article published in the Post Courier last Friday on “Yu Tok” program entitled “Acquittal and technical capacity should be a factor for development funds to be released”. Mr. Vaki highlighted that the government’s policy on service improvement program (SIP or PSIP & DSIP) is seen as a critical rural development initiative making significant impacts since its introduction by the Somare Government in 2007. “Since the introduction of District Development Program (DDP) with K1.0 million funding in 2000-2001 then increased to SIP with K10.0 million per electorate from 2013 to the present with many districts experiencing unprecedented developments taking shape such as rural water and electrification, roads and bridges, communication towers, District Hospitals/Health Centres, Technical schools, modern classrooms, SMEs, district markets among others which must be appreciated,” he said. However, he said that although there is a National Executive Council (NEC) Decision of 2018 exists to park all SIP grants at DIRD as “one-stop-shops” for ease of funds accessing, monitoring of implementation and reporting of developments by 111 subnational administrations (provinces and districts) to government but this role still remains with Department of Finance through an administrative decisions. So Department of Finance now remitting SIP grants using the Integrated Financial Management Systems (IFMS) to subnational through their provincial and district treasury operating accounts. “However, DIRD only manages the Constitutional Grants or Provincial and District Support Grants which the department strictly administers where all Constitutional Grants are remitted based on the submission of the previous year’s fiscal report,” he said. Mr. Vaki further elaborate that while the disbursement is done by the Department of Finance, DIRD is not aware of how much SIP funds has been frontloaded to subnational in 2020 and 2021 to date. “The annual SIP disbursement figures does not reconcile with the acquittal reports from the subnational administrations,” he said. He said the problem is that DIRD has not been supported with SIP monitoring funds though budget submissions detailing yearly work plans have been submitted to the national budget planners every year. The funding for monitoring also covers interagency team to travel to the electorates as required under the Administrative Guidelines and Financial Instructions. “The Department continues to provide technical and policy advice on daily basis and maintains close dialogue with the Administrators, Finance Managers and political leaders so they are fully aware of Administrative Guidelines and Financial Instructions to ensure good governance and accountability in the management of SIP funding,” Vaki said. Aihi said national government is playing its mandated roles and responsibilities to ensure people in rural villages and communities receive minimum services that would transform their lives, however the onus rests entirely on the leadership role played at the sub-national administration in the management of these development grants. The DDAs and provincial administrations in their development planning should critically focus on minimum standards and bridging development gaps. He said some provinces and districts faced challenges in terms of logistics due to geographical isolation and remoteness, however these should not be an excuse. The administration must strategically plan and ensure the implementation process continues to deliver tangible development to remote corners of their respective electorates. “As far as the national government is concerned, SIP program is here to stay, all we desire is stable political and administrative leadership required to deliver basic services based on a realistic five year development plans and good people focused decisions, not contrary,” he said. He also highlighted that violating of the Administrative Guidelines and Financial Instruction by not submitting acquittal reports, development plans and budgets contribute to misapplication of SIP funds. Vaki added that provinces and districts must counter-fund projects through PSIP and DSIP to collectively achieve greater results towards delivery of services. Provinces exists because of districts therefore PSIP must be applied equally. Currently, the department is developing a DIMS/SIP data base system with the assistance from Australian Government through DFAT to enhance the department’s competence to measure the performance of all 111 electorates so that at the end of the day there is an effective reporting system to NEC and Parliament also importantly a source of reliable planning data for all levels of government.

National Superannuation Fund (Nasfund) Brand Ambassador Justin Olam recently met with Fund members in Port Moresby. On Wednesday (February 16th) and Thursday (February 17th), Olam visited selected contributing employers in the food manufacturing, hospitality, airline, financial, and retail industries, to promote the Fund’s products and services. These sessions included discussions on the importance of members updating their details, encouraging voluntary member contribution, highlighting the Nasfund Membership Discount Program (MDP) as well as promoting Eda Supa, the Fund’s voluntary savings scheme. His engagements also included an appearance on Nasfund FM100 Talkback, an interview with EMTV Sports Scene and a brief media conference. Commenting on his engagements, Olam said he was excited at continuing to play his part in promoting financial security through superannuation. “In PNG, there is still a need to develop a savings culture." "As Nasfund Brand Ambassador, and member, I am pleased to do my part in encouraging my fellow members to take superannuation savings seriously." "This is part of my contribution to promoting the development of a savings culture – something that I am passionate about." "I look forward to continue working with the Nasfund Team in promoting the importance of saving through superannuation, for the benefit of our members and potential new members throughout PNG.” Nasfund Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ian Tarutia thanked Olam for using his time and position as Brand Ambassador to assist the Fund promote a savings culture through superannuation. “Currently, 850,000 or 9.4% of Papua New Guineans are contributing towards their retirement. This means over 90% of our people are missing out on this benefit. At Nasfund our focus is to encourage this uncovered segment of our population to save with us. Compliance with the Superannuation Act is one avenue or voluntary means through our Eda Supa facility. As the largest superannuation by membership size, we are aware of the need to keep the public informed – and our engagements are a big part of this. We are privileged to have our Brand Ambassador here in PNG for a few days to speak to our members. We also thank our contributing employers who took time to host our Brand Ambassador at their respective locations – your membership, and support is appreciated, and we look forward to continuing engaging, in promoting the importance of superannuation savings.”

Following the allocation of K10 million by the National Government to the National Broadcasting Corporation for the coverage of the 2022 National General Elections, the Electoral Commission has announced that NBC will be the official broadcaster of the 2022 National General Elections. Information and Communications Minister Timothy Masiu, Electoral Commissioner Simon Sinai and Managing Director of National Broadcasting Corporation Kora Nou signed the agreement yesterday at the Electoral Commission Headquarters in Port Moresby. Mr Sinai said providing correct information to the people is an integral part of any government activities and NBC has been an important partner since the first national elections in 1977. The coverage includes election awareness, updates, news and technical support. “The Electoral Commission’s prime focus is to strengthen support and coordination with all stakeholders for an efficient and successful National General Elections this year,” Mr Sinai said. “PNG Electoral Commission will continue to work together with NBC as the leading media communication partner with the rest of the media houses in covering this year’s election.” Minister Masiu commended the National Government and the Electoral Commission for the foresight in appointing NBC as the official broadcaster for the 2022 NGE. “I’m confident that NBC will not disappoint you and the people of this country as we always provide exclusive, conclusive and comprehensive coverage in the past NGEs and this coming election will be no exception,” Mr Masiu said. “As part of our obligation, NBC will work with the Electoral Commission on voter awareness, publicity as well as other related election activities.” “Our other major obligation is to provide election coverage materials to other PNG media outlets as well; we will not only keep the elections materials to ourselves but we will share with our media family to collectively provide regular and more detailed election information to our people,” Mr Masiu said.

Evidence suggests Russia is planning "the biggest war in Europe since 1945", Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said. He told the BBC's Sophie Raworth in an interview: "All the signs are that the plan has already in some senses begun." Intelligence suggests Russia intends to launch an invasion that will encircle Ukrainian capital Kyiv, Mr Johnson said. "People need to understand the sheer cost in human life that could entail," he said. The prime minister was speaking from Munich, where world leaders are meeting for an annual security conference. The latest estimates by the US government suggests that between 169,000 and 190,000 Russian troops are now stationed along Ukraine's border, both in Russia and neighbouring Belarus - but this figure also includes rebels in eastern Ukraine. Western officials have warned in recent weeks that Russia could be preparing to invade at any time, but Russia has denied the claims, saying troops are conducting military exercises in the region. Asked whether a Russian invasion is still thought to be imminent, Mr Johnson said: "I'm afraid that that is what the evidence points to, there's no burnishing it. "The fact is that all the signs are that the plan has already in some senses begun." The prime minister said US President Joe Biden had told Western leaders intelligence suggested Russian forces were not just planning on entering Ukraine from the east, via Donbas, but down from Belarus and the area surrounding Kyiv. "I'm afraid to say that the plan we are seeing is for something that could be really the biggest war in Europe since 1945 just in terms of sheer scale," the prime minister said. People needed to not only consider the potential loss of life of Ukrainians, but also of "young Russians", he added. Mr Johnson was speaking after meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and telling world leaders in a speech that any invasion of Ukraine by Russia would "echo around the world". The full interview will be broadcast on BBC One's Sunday Morning programme at 09:00 GMT. SOURCE: BBC NEWS

Minister for Information and Communications Technology Timothy Masiu has commended the PNG Electoral Commission for its efforts over the years in administering and delivering successful elections for the country. Minister Masiu made this acknowledgement during the announcement of the official media broadcaster for the 2022 National General Elections yesterday in Port Moresby. “The Electoral Commission is always being attacked by politicians, leaders, communities, and everyone,” Mr Masiu said. “We always seem to be pointing fingers at the Electoral Commission whenever we are not happy when something is not right in the way we see it.” “I want to say that since this country became an independent state, since the first election up until now, we need to pay tribute to the Electoral Commission of PNG, through the past Electoral Commissioners and officers down the line, some of them are here today and some are not." “We need to acknowledge their service to this country because it is through their hard work and commitment in delivering elections that we have a government and we have a country so we must give this acknowledgement where it is due.” Mr Masiu also congratulated Electoral Commissioner Simon Sinai and his team for ensuring that preparations are well underway to deliver the upcoming National General Elections. “I’m happy to hear Mr Sinai talking about the important interventions the Electoral Commission is taking in making sure that this election is delivered,” Minister Masiu said.

Retired long-serving MP and Minister, Dame Carol Kidu, has called on Districts and Provinces to treat women equally as stipulated by law. Dame Kidu made this call while meeting with the first cohort of women attending the Leadership Academy for women at the Pacific Institute for Leadership and Governance (PILAG) in Waigani. Dame Kidu made the following statement which was endorsed by the women from 11 provinces. The National Goals in the Preamble to our National Constitution and other laws of PNG are very clear about political representation of women. National Goal 2 Directive Principle 5 clearly calls for ‘equal participation by women citizens in all political, economic, social and religious activities.’ With no women in National Parliament and very few women in local level councils, we have failed as a nation in this regard. Efforts have been made to improve the situation at local level with the 2014 amendments to the Organic Law on Provincial and Local Level Government. These amendments allow for Appointed Women at local level and for those women to be resourced equally with male Councillors. However, in most Wards, the appointed women are not given their allowances and often not even allowed to take part in debates nor put project submissions to the Ward. I commend the Provinces and Districts that are recognising the appointed women and call on them to put pressure on their colleagues that are not complying with the law to address the situation before the 2022 National elections. Perhaps at the local level, PNG should introduce Parity Laws similar to the Melanesian French territories. Instead of Appointed women at local level, Parliament should legislate for female councillors to be elected by male and female voters just like the male councillors. Political equality will not happen easily in PNG, we need a Government with the commitment to make sure it happens through legislative means. It is simple and has no cost implications. Repeal the present Appointed women provision under the Organic Law and replace with elected positions using a parity law provision before the 2024 LLG elections. PNG would then have 50/50 male/female representation by elective process at the local political level - we would then truly become a Representative Democracy at the local level of politics.

President Joe Biden on Friday said he is now convinced Russian President Vladimir Putin has made the decision to invade Ukraine, but emphasized that room for diplomacy remains. "As of this moment, I am convinced he's made the decision," Biden said during remarks at the White House. The President also said the US believes Russian forces intend to attack Ukraine "in the coming week" or sooner, and that an attack will target the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. Biden plans to spend the weekend monitoring the ongoing Ukraine crisis from the White House as he meets with his national security team and remains in close contact with world leaders, multiple officials say. Biden had considered traveling to Delaware, as he typically does, but decided to remain in Washington. Throughout recent days, the Biden administration has publicly disclosed several intelligence details on Russian movements -- a marked shift in how US national security officials typically operate. The administration's decision to discuss their movements "loudly and repeatedly," Biden said Friday inside the Roosevelt Room, was made "to remove any reason that Russia may give to justify invading Ukraine and prevent them from moving." "Make no mistake. If Russia pursues its plans, it will be responsible for a catastrophic and needless war of choice," he added. The President's assertion on Friday that he's "convinced" Putin has "made the decision" to invade Ukraine is a significant change in his position. Biden previously stated he did not believe the Russian leader had made up his mind, but acknowledged his insights into Putin's thinking were limited. He did note that he hoped diplomacy could de-escalate the situation, saying on Friday that "diplomacy is always a possibility." Questioned on why he believed Putin is considering diplomacy at all, Biden said only: "We have a significant intelligence capability." Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova rebutted Biden's comments, denying that Russia intends to invade Ukraine, according to state-run news agency RIA-Novosti. "The American president also repeated the unsubstantiated thesis about Russia's alleged attempts to 'attack' Ukraine, threatening Moscow with sanctions in the event of an escalation. The Russian Federation categorically denies such statements and escalation plans attributed to it," RIA said. White House officials have warned that Russia could face extensive sanctions if it invades Ukraine, calling them "the most severe measures we've ever contemplated against Russia." Biden said Friday that Russian misinformation is building up to a false justification for Putin to invade Ukraine, accusing Russia of ceasefire violations in the "rapidly escalating crisis." "Over the last few days, we've seen reports of a major uptick in violations of the ceasefire by Russian-backed fighters attempting to provoke Ukraine in the Donbas," Biden said, pointing to multiple examples of disinformation that he said have been spread by Russian state media, including a "phony" claim of genocide in the Donbas region. But the claims by the Russians simply don't make sense, Biden argued, saying, "It defies basic logic to believe the Ukrainians would choose this moment -- with well over 150,000 troops arranged on its borders -- to escalate a year-long conflict." Despite the US' assessment of an imminent invasion of Ukraine, Biden said that it's up to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to decide whether he will attend this weekend's security conference in Germany. Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to meet with Zelensky during the conference on Saturday. Earlier on Friday, the White House blamed Russia for a massive cyberattack on Ukraine earlier in the week. "We believe that the Russian government is responsible for widescale cyberattacks on Ukrainian banks this week. We have technical information that links the Russian Main Intelligence Directorate, or GRU, as known GRU infrastructure was seen transmitting high volumes of communication to Ukraine based IP addresses and domains," said Anne Neuberger, deputy national security advisor for cyber and emerging technology. The attribution for the attack was unusually fast for the US government, and Neuberger noted that Russia has previously benefited from US delays in attributing Russian hacking operations. "Russia likes to move in the shadows and counts on a long process of attribution so it can continue its malicious behavior against Ukraine in cyberspace, including pre-positioning for its potential invasion," Neuberger told reporters in the White House briefing room. Biden's speech on Friday comes amid escalating tensions in the region. Nearly half of Russian forces surrounding Ukraine are in attack position, according to a defense official familiar with the latest assessment. The number of battalion tactical groups has swelled to approximately 120 to 125. The official said the Russian military has continued to move forces toward the border, and within the last 48 hours, the number of forces in attack position has reached 40% to 50%. US Ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Michael Carpenter warned earlier Friday that the US has assessed a significant Russian military buildup near Ukraine just in the last two weeks. "Russia probably has massed between 169,000-190,000 personnel in and near Ukraine as compared with about 100,000 on January 30," he said in a statement at the OSCE meeting. That includes Russian troops on the borders of Ukraine as well as the Russian-led forces in eastern Ukraine, which have not been included in previous US assessments of Russia's strength in the area. Shortly before his remarks, Biden spoke with allies in North America and Europe. He will hold a phone call with the leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Romania, the United Kingdom, the European Union and NATO to discuss the ongoing crisis. During the call, the leaders "expressed deep concern" about the situation and reiterated their support for Ukraine and discussed further economic assistance to the country, according to a White House statement. "They pledged to continue pursuing diplomacy to de-escalate tensions while ensuring readiness to impose swift, coordinated economic costs on Russia should it choose further conflict. The leaders also discussed efforts to ensure the defense and security of NATO's eastern flank," the statement said. The President on Friday also called into a meeting the vice president was holding with members of Congress, who are all attending the Munich Security Conference in Germany and, according to a person in the room, he reiterated the work the US and allies have been doing to try to prevent a Russian invasion of Ukraine. He also updated the members on the situation at Ukraine's borders. SOURCE: CNN NEWS

PNG Red Cross Society (PNGRCS) is pleased to have received and acknowledged a kind donation of an Led Color Television set from International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Friday which will be used for conference calls and meetings. The Led Color Television with full conference call/meeting package was presented by ICRC Cooperation Officer Mr. Johnny Yep to Red Cross Secretary General Mr. Uvenama Rova. Mr. Rova was pleased to receive the items on behalf of PNG Red Cross Society at PNGRCS headquarters in Port Moresby and thanked the ICRC for the timely donation. Mr. Rova highlighted that the television set is of a great need to the organization and will be utilized by staff for virtual meetings with partners, donors and will also be used for other Red Cross events and conferences. “I would like to take this opportunity to thank ICRC for taking this initiative to identify a need in our National Society and address it with this timely donation,” Mr Rova said. “With the current increase of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country, the television set will be of greater assistance to the Red Cross staff here at the HQ to use for virtual meetings with partners and donors,” he added. The screen was placed at PNGRCS Conference room and will be useful to staff during this period where covid-19 is increasing in the country and face-to-face communication is restricted to some extent.

The Independent Consumer and Competition Commission (“ICCC”) wishes to announce to relevant stakeholders and the general public that it has approved Telstra Corporation Limited (“Telstra”) to proceed with its proposal to acquire Digicel (PNG) Limited and its wholly-owned subsidiaries in PNG (together referred to as “Digicel PNG”). ICCC Commissioner and CEO, Paulus Ain said whilst acknowledging that Telstra is one of the four (4) big telecommunication operators in Australia, the ICCC has concluded that this Proposed Acquisition is not likely to have the effect of substantially lessening competition in any markets Digicel is currently operating in PNG because Telstra has but very limited presence in PNG markets. Mr. Ain said the ICCC therefore decided to allow Telstra to acquire Digicel PNG and its subsidiaries. “The ICCC conducted extensive public consultation on this application.” Mr. Ain added. “This included consultation on the application when it was received and registered, the issue of a Draft Determination to Telstra and all key stakeholders for their comments; and a Conference held on the Draft Determination where all relevant stakeholders were allowed to attend and give oral comments on issues and facts the ICCC assessed in its Draft Determination.” “It is important to inform the public that key institutions like NICTA, Department of Information and Communication, Institute of National Affairs, amongst others agreed with the ICCC’s draft decision to approve the proposed transaction.” Mr. Ain added that the institutions that made strong objections are PNG DataCo, Telikom and PNG Think Tank Group. “All comments and views expressed were deliberated by the ICCC to arrive at this decision to approve.” Mr. Ain said that in its consideration of the likely effects on competition, if the Proposed Acquisition proceeds, the ICCC has, in summary, formed the following conclusions: · Firstly, the Proposed Acquisition is just a replacement of Digicel PNG because Telstra is not a PNG based operator and is not activity competition in any given markets where Digicel is currently operating. Therefore, after the acquisition, Telstra will inherit and assume the current market position of Digicel PNG in all relevant areas of Digicel’s business operations in PNG. · Whilst the ICCC also understands that Telstra has several PNG telecommunication licenses from NICTA, it does so in order to operate its business in PNG such as its supply of telecommunications services to its business and enterprise customers. There is no information suggesting that Telstra competes for customers in PNG, or absent the acquisition, is likely to do so in the future. · The above conclusion meant that the Proposed Acquisition is less likely to have any significant adverse effect on the current level of competition in any markets where Digicel currently has presence. · Whilst the telecommunication industry in PNG is a highly concentrated market, since the acquisition is basically a replacement of Digicel PNG, the current level of concentration will not be affected, post-acquisition. · The ICCC accepts that Telstra is a vertically integrated telecommunications operator (as it provides upstream IP transit services to PNG based customers like DataCo and the mobile carriers). However, the ICCC is of the view that there is sufficient level of competition at the upstream IP Transit service to put competitive pressure on Telstra’s potential foreclosure attempts. Available information also suggests that PNG based customers are able to negotiate the rates offered by Telstra; and there is fewer switching costs. Mr. Ain further stated thatwhilst the ICCC also notes stakeholders’ comments on protecting the consumers’ interests, the ICCC was of the view that such vigorous competitors like Telstra will put competitive pressure on other existing and potential competitors to innovate and bring affordable telecommunication services to the market. When such happens, consumers ultimately benefit. “The ICCC Act requires that if the ICCC is satisfied that a proposed acquisition which is subject of a Clearance application would not have, or would not be likely to have, the effect of substantially lessening competition in a relevant market, the ICCC must give a clearance; and vice versa.” “In this case, the ICCC was satisfied that the acquisition of Digicel PNG by Telstra is not likely to result in substantial lessening of competition in any relevant markets.” “Basically, Telstra has passed the Clearance Test; hence the acquisition must be approved.” The Non-confidential version of the Final Determination is available and can be provided upon request through this email: wtondop@iccc.gov.pg or can be accessed on the ICCC’s website through this link: https://www.iccc.gov.pg/public-register-documents-h/competition/clearance-request/c2021-29-05-nov-2021-telstra-corporation-limited-and-digicel-png-limited-clearance. All queries relating to this matter should be directed to Mr. Steven Sugl, Executive Manager, Competitive Markets & Fair-Trade Division on telephone 312 4600 or e-mail to: ssugl@iccc.gov.pg .