Bahma expands national footprint with new office opening in Port Moresby

Bahma group executives doing the ribbon cutting for the news Port Moresby office (Image: NBC News / Suli Suli)

Lihir-born business enterprise Bahma Recruitment Services has officially opened its new office branch in Port Moresby.

The establishment of the headquarter is part of its national expansion strategy to capture growing opportunities in Papua New Guinea's resource, construction, and corporate sectors.

Starting as a small local enterprise on Lihir Island, Bahma was officially registered in 2001 and began operations in 2003, providing labor hire services to the local mine. Over two decades, the company expanded its portfolio by acquiring a Mobil fuel depot in 2007, establishing Bahma Recruitment Services in 2008, and later venturing into camp management and real estate.

Speaking at the official opening, managin director Herman Bais said that establishing a central headquarters in Port Moresby will allow the 100% nationally owned group to compete directly in the broader national market.

"Port Moresby is the central business location in Papua New Guinea," Bais said. "Having a location here gives us direct access to tap into the upcoming PNG LNG, power, mining, construction, banking, and hospitality industries."

Bahma Recruitment Services inside the new office (Image: NBC News / Suli Suli)

Addressing industry challenges, company leadership said that most major human resources and labor hire firms operating in Papua New Guinea are foreign-owned.

Bahma executives urged the national government to consider local content policies, quota systems, or national recognition to help local recruitment firms compete on major resource projects.

"I think there should be some sort of acknowledgment or quota given to enable nationally owned recruiting or labor hire companies to venture into that space," John Pong, Bahma Recruitment Service Executive Officer said.

"Most of this recruitment companies are foreign owned. So government should also consider local companies when giving contracts in bigger mining or gas and petroleum projects."

Bahma Recruitment Services executive officer John Pong and managing director Herman Bais addressing media (Image: NBC News / Suli Suli)

In addition to its domestic labor force, which currently employs over 100 permanent staff alongside local shutdown crews in Lihir, Bahma is actively broadening its scope into the Third Country National [TCN] labor market.

The company recently signed a recruitment agreement with Philippine-based recruitment agency QUESCO and is finalizing authentication documentation with the Philippine Embassy to facilitate skilled international manpower for local resource projects.

"We know that by coming to Port Moresby, it gives us the liberty to explore the other projects as we have said," Bais said.

"While waiting for accreditation from the Philippines Embassy, to also step into the TCN market, So, we can recruit Filipinos and all the other Asian countries to come and work in all the resources to compete with the international market."

The new Port Moresby branch launches with an initial team of six administrative and technical staff to oversee operations.