Economic Development Overview
OTML makes a significant economic contribution to PNG and the Western Province and helps to sustainably develop local communities.OTML makes a significant economic contribution to PNG and the Western Province through:
- royalties from metal sales;
- employee salaries;
- capital and operating expenditure to suppliers of goods and services in PNG;
- payments under the various land and community agreements;
- various business taxes, including company payroll, goods and services and the TCS;
- donations and investments in community development programs; and
- investment in local and regional infrastructure, including roads, bridges, jetties, hospitals, schools.
The sustainable development of communities depends on their economic viability. Our economic development programs are delivered through the Ok Tedi Development Foundation (OTDF) and focus on projects that can provide a sustainable food supply for communities, as well as deliver income earning and employment and medium-term economic opportunities to markets, for example, the selling of agro-based products to local and regional customers.
The OTDF provides financial project support through Trust investments and transfers knowledge to community farmers working small to medium enterprise rubber, rice and eaglewood plantations. This includes support for communities for food production including vegetables, rice, fish and poultry to support community livelihoods.
OTDF Economic Development (ED) Team supports the establishment of new local Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in CMCA regions; and assists existing enterprises operating in the non-formal sector to transition to the formal sector.
The ED Team also provides a business services advisory service for SMEs, and also coordinates the Financial Literacy Training (FLT) conducted in partnership with the Bank of South Pacific (BSP), partly funded under PNG’s National Financial Inclusion Strategy
