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Team
Management
Gudmundur Fridriksson
Managing Director
George Hallit
Chief Operating Officer
Gudmundur Fridriksson (Gummi) is a business leader with over 30 years experience in managing major projects in Papua New Guinea, Europe, China, Hong Kong and Australia. He is experienced in managing organisations and delivering complex projects within politically sensitive, logistically challenging and culturally diverse locations.
With a vision to develop a world-class master planned estate on Paga Hill, Gudmundur Fridriksson co-founded Paga Hill Development Company (PNG) Ltd in 1996 to acquire the 13.7 hectare site.
Prior to focusing full time on the development of Paga Hill Estate, Gudmundur was CEO of the Cape York Institute for Policy and Leadership (CYI) from December 2010 to November 2012. In December 2011, Gudmundur led the transition of CYI from an academic centre within Griffith University to a Cape York Corporation Ltd. This preceded a broader restructure of the Cape York Group. He was the Deputy CEO of Cape York Partnerships for Welfare Reform (CYP) from January 2009 to November 2010.
Gudmundur also led the Welfare Reform Program Office, in conjunction with Australian and Queensland Government representatives, in providing oversight of the Cape York Welfare Reform trial; a comprehensive social development program. Gudmundur was seconded to CYI from Balkanu Development Corporation, from September 2007 to December 2008, to manage design and development of the strategic plan for the implementation of Welfare Reform.
In 2006, Gudmundur moved from PNG to Australia to work at Balkanu Development Corporation as project manager for the Mossman Gorge community to unlock benefits from the 500,000 annual visitors to this World Heritage area. The world-class Indigenous eco-tourism facility, known as the Mossman Gorge Centre, was officially opened in August 2012. Read more: www.gudmundurfridriksson.com
George Hallit is an experienced consulting professional, specialising in performance transformation, process improvement and the implementation of sustained cultural change. George served as a Director in the Paga Hill Estate development from 2002 until 2012. Since early 2016 George has committed himself to the project on a full-time basis.
Advisory Board
Peter Barge
Chairman
Peter Barge was Chairman and CEO of Jones Lang LaSalle Asia Pacific, the region’s leading property services group with 16,000 staff spread across 60 offices. He has held board directorships in public and private companies in the property and tourism space in Europe, India, Asia and Australia. He is Chairman of Trustees at Internationally acclaimed Green School Bali and was a Director of the owner/operator company of Yulara (Ayers Rock Resort) and a Director of the major township developer in India. Mr Barge was awarded the inaugural “Asia Pacific Trailblazer Award” by the region’s Hotel and Tourism industry.
David Galvin
Director
David Galvin is Chairman of The Australian Livestock Export Corporation Ltd (LiveCorp) he comes from an extensive rural background in the Northern Territory and overseas. He is the former CEO of Indigenous Land Corporation (ILC), a position that he held for nearly 12 years before standing down in 2012. The ILC is a major beef producer and has considerable pastoral holdings and pastoral enterprise agreements on the Indigenous held land across Northern Australia to Tasmania. Mr Galvin was a Director of Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia Pty Ltd (owner/operator of Ayers Rock Resort) and currently Managing Director of Tubarao Investments Pty Ltd, a property investment company.
Ray Paul Barava OBE
Director
Mr Ray Paul is a highly respected Papua New Guinean public servant with extensive local experience and network. Mr Paul most recently served as Chief Commissioner of Customs PNG and is an advisor to the Prime Minister’s Department.
Ian Shepherd OBE
Director
Ian is Partner at Ashurst PNG, which has the largest presence of any international law firm in Papua New Guinea. Ian primarily practices in the areas of litigation and commercial law, with extensive experience from within Australia and Papua New Guinea, where has more that 27 years’ experience.
Rio Fiocco OBE
Director
Rio is a professional lawyer and President of the Port Moresby Chamber of Commerce & Industry (POMCCI). Having commenced his legal career in Brisbane Australia, he has been a member of the PNG Law Society since 1987, contributing extensively to PNG business and culture in the decades since.