Energy revenues focus of Australia-PNG talks

Australia will encourage Papua New Guinea to set up a sovereign wealth fund to take advantage of revenues from a new LNG project.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop will fly to PNG today to chair the annual Australia-Papua New Guinea Ministerial Forum, and she said the country's booming economy will be a major focus of the talks.

Ms Bishop will be accompanied by Immigration Minister Scott Morrison, Defence Minister David Johnston and Justice Minister Michael Keenan.

Ms Bishop said PNG was undergoing a "incredible energy renaissance" thanks to the windfalls from the $19 billion ExxonMobil-led PNG LNG project, which went online earlier in 2014.

The nation's economy is the fastest growing in Asia, with forecasts increases of about 15 to 20 per cent, she said.

"Huge revenues will be coming into PNG," she told Sky News.

"We want to work with them as economic partners to make sure that PNG has in place sovereign wealth funds so that the money they are receiving from these massive energy projects can be spread throughout PNG."