I am just wary of the importance of personal "relationships" and...

I am just wary of the importance of personal "relationships" and the obligatory donatioons of cassowaries and pigs and the need to return perceived favours in the PNG culture.  I look at what can happen when things go wrong with these difficult and complex relationships.  See Bogainville  and Lihir as good examples where locals shut down major investments in attempts to force a better price (payback).

http://www.smh.com.au/business/mini...crest-minings-lihir-mine-20150608-ghjjvr.html

http://www.miningaustralia.com.au/News/Rio-Tinto-reviewing-future-of-Bougainville-copper

On Bogainville there was a civil war on the island because one group thought they should get a bigger share of royalties.  Mine has been out of action for 20 + years

If there is big $ involved then all it takes is for locals or govt officials to think they aren't getting their share and they will exact payback through sabotage and any other necessary means doing or not doing deals till the price is favourable to them.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-28/ok-tedi-mine-suspends-production-stands-down-workforce/6654806

Since the 1980s, the Ok Tedi mine created billions of dollars of revenue for Australian company BHP but waste dumped into the river system caused widespread damage. BHP handed over its majority share to a local trust in 2001 in return for legal immunity. In 2013, the PNG government passed legislation to take over the PNG Sustainable Development Program – effectively nationalising the mine.