Prime Minister Peter O’Neill has confidence in the PNG LNG project and the Total LNG project in Gulf Province.
In a statement, O’Neill said the projects were playing a very important part in transforming Papua New Guinea’s economy.
“The Papua LNG project will create an additional 10,000 new jobs for Papua New Guineans.
“We see this as a major expression of confidence by France and its businesses in Papua New Guinea and its economy, and we look forward to developing these opportunities together,” he said.
O’Neill also highlighted outcomes of his recent visit to Paris where he met 30 businesses representing 60% of France’s GDP, who expressed strong confidence and their desire to do business in Papua New Guinea.
“We welcome these companies that showed interest in the country.”
To further business engagement, he said Papua New Guinea was working with the French Government to open an embassy in Paris.
He said Papua New Guinea will also continue to work closely with France on areas such as climate change, which is a significant challenge for Pacific Island nations.
He said as part of this policy engagement, Papua New Guinea has accepted the invitation from the French Government to chair one of the meetings taking place during the 2015 Paris Climate Conference (COP21) in December.