ICTSI issues dividends to PNG community partners

20 July 2023

Turnover of AIL dividends to Ahi Prudential Limited, a trustee company created to hold shares from AIL on behalf of beneficiaries

Ahi Investment Ltd. (AIL) in Papua New Guinea (PNG) recently turned over PGK2.5 million (USD695,000) in dividends to Ahi Prudential Development to fund development projects and programs across the Ahicommunities of Yalu, Kamkumung, Hengali, Butibam, Yanga and Wagang.

AIL’s subsidiary, Ahi Terminal Services Ltd., partially owns South Pacific International Container Terminal Ltd. (SPICT), part of the concession agreement between International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) and the Ahi Group of Companies.

The funding for the Ahi communities demonstrates a successful partnership anchored in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), as well as the mutual respect between ICTSI South Pacific Ltd. (ISPL) – ICTSI’s subsidiary in PNG, the ICTSI Foundation and the Ahi Group of Companies.

ICTSI operates two international seaports in PNG – SPICT in Lae and Motukea International Terminal in Port Moresby.

George Gware, AIL chairman and SPICT general manager, emphasized the importance of reinvesting in the community, stating: “When we do business in our city of Lae and we generate profit, we have a responsibility to ensure that we invest back into our community to address the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.”

Prior to the start of the pandemic in 2019, the ICTSI Foundation conducted a seminar-workshop to increase the Ahi Group’s understanding of the 17 SDGs, which were adopted by the United Nations in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace and prosperity. AIL board members and officers took part in activities that reinforced the SDGs, including review of their respective villages’ history, identification of endemic wildlife, and accounting of the communities’ existing resources. This served as a springboard for AIL to incorporate the 17 SDGs into their business plans and processes.

Since 2018, the ICTSI Foundation has completed several development projects as part of its commitment to partner community-shareholders of SPICT. These include educational support for students in the communities, donation of patrol cars and construction of two police stations in Lae.