The Chairman of Paga Hill Estate, Mr. Peter Barge announced today that the Radisson Blu Hotel at Paga Hill will be 40 per cent owned by Papua New Guineans.
Mr. Barge made this announcement in a press conference with the Minister for International Trade and Investment, Richard Maru and the Managing Director, Australasia of Radisson Group, Mr. Lachlan Hoswell.
“Despite the Black Wednesday, the Paga Hill Estate and the Radisson Group are very excited about the future of Papua New Guinea and are very keen to invest in partnership with local investors. Negotiations with local investors have started and I am hoping that in the coming weeks the announcements of the new local Joint Ventures will be made,” Mr. Barge said.
“A new casino and a new shopping mall will be an integral of the new Radisson Blu Hotel and Residential precincts which will be a K840 million investment,” he added.
Mr. Barge also announced that the intense work would commence in April with the construction and sealing of all the roads.
“The construction phase could potentially employ up to a thousand Papua New Guineans and post construction we are expecting up to over 7,000 fulltime jobs for Papua New Guineans which will make Paga Hill SEZ a much bigger employer than any of the mines and LNG projects,” Mr. Barge said.
Minister Maru said he was very excited about the keen interest of local investors who already met with Paga Hill to form the Joint Venture Company together with the international investors who will have ownership of the Radisson Blu Hotel, and the casino and mall at Paga Hill.
Minister Maru encouraged the Paga Hill Board and the Radisson Group to have the project completed before September 16, 2025 so the opening could be part Papua New Guinea’s 50th anniversary grand celebration.
“I can foresee our international guests arriving for our 50th anniversary staying at the new Radisson Blu Hotel at Paga Hill and also being part of the grand celebration for the opening of the hotel, the casino and the mall, and the other facilities that will be built,” Minister Maru said.
Furthermore, the Minister called on other investors to follow the lead shown by investors in the Paga Hill Special Economic Zone (SEZ) to come and invest in Port Moresby and in PNG.
He also assured the investor that the incentives offered by the SEZ license given to Paga Hill SEZ will be offered to all the investors and locators who will be based within the Paga Hill SEZ.
“We have a very bright future despite our challenges and we are so excited to attract the worldclass brands like Radisson Blu,” Minister Maru said.
